The Life We've Dreamed of
by music.notes.instruments12
Summary: "Ginny grabbed a frying pan off of the stove and hit Bill. 'Your wife's in labor! GET BLOODY MOVING.'"/ Join the Weasley-Potter family on their journey through love and loss, and through life and death. Moments from the missing nineteen years and beyond. Chapter 50: An Old Friend
1. Daddy

**Hello everyone.  
**

**My friend and I were thinking about what I could potentially write next, and thus this story was born. **

**This will be a collection of fifty moments in the missing 19 years between the Deathly Hallows and the epilogue, and a few from beyond. We hope you all enjoy, "The Life We've Dreamed of."**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Daddy**

"Hi, Uncle Harry!" Teddy squealed excitedly, running through the door. Harry chuckled and caught him.

"Slow down, there, Teddy," he said, looking down at his four year-old godson. "Where's your grandmother?"

"Outside!" he said. "Aunt Ginny!" He ran towards Ginny, who had come out from the kitchen.

Andromeda Tonks chuckled and brought in Teddy's small bag. "Thank you for taking Teddy. It will be so wonderful to get away for a week. I forgot how much work children could be!"

"Don't worry, Andromeda. We love having Teddy here. We're going to have a lot of fun, right, bud?"

Teddy, who had reappeared next to Harry, nodded enthusiastically. "We're gonna play lots of games, watch ten movies a day, and eat lots of pizza!" He picked up his bag and ran to his room.

Harry chuckled. "Have fun in Hawaii, Andromeda."

* * *

"Is your fort done, Uncle Harry?" Teddy asked, hiding behind a mass of pillows and blankets. He made a hole which he could talk through and launch ammo from.

"Almost done, Teddy!" Harry was really struggling. He could barely get his pillows to stand up, and the fort had collapsed twice already. When he finally made a decent pillow fort, he announced, "I'm ready! Start the catapults!"

Teddy started launching rolled up socks through the opening of the fort. They collided with Harry's pillow wall, but it held.

Harry, throwing fairly lightly, started his attack with small, lightweight plastic balls he'd Transfigured from cotton balls. One of Teddy's pillows fell down on top of the boy. "I'm still in!" he cried, fixing the pillow. "ATTACK!"

"Teddy, Harry, dinner is rea-" Ginny was cut off by a rolled up pair of socks that landed in her mouth. Another one hit her in the face. Harry gasped. Ginny hissed, "You'll pay for that one, boys!"

Teddy laughed in delight. "Uncle Harry, get over into my fort, quick!" Harry crawled over and into Teddy's mass of pillows. Ginny got onto her knees and occupied Harry's fort, surveying the plastic balls with delight. "Oh, these'll be great." She pulled out her wand and Transfigured them into stuffed animals. Big stuffed animals.

Meanwhile, on the boys' side, Harry was taking stock of the ammo. Teddy had a few socks left. He Transfigured them into pillows. Gin will never see it coming, he thought evilly.

Teddy officiated the match. "Each side with launch five times, and only one side can shoot at once. Whoever's fort collapses first loses!" he crawled back next to Harry.

"Hey, Gin, ladies first!" Harry shouted through the opening. Teddy giggled, looking at the pillows they were going to throw.

"You're going to regret that, Potter!" She used her wand to launch her stuffed koala bears first. As they soared through the air, Harry quickly cast a shield charm on their fort. The koalas bounced off harmlessly.

"You have to do better than that, Gin!" He quickly launched a few of the pillows. He could see Ginny's expression of shock as her fort wobbled.

"Oh, two can play at that game!" She waved her wand and the stuffed animals doubled in size. "ATTACK!" They soared through the air, colliding with the pillow wall. The fort trembled as koalas battered the front wall. One rained down through the blanket roof, but their fort still stood, barely.

Harry levitated three pillows and sent them towards Ginny's fort, high speed. Two of them made the wall move, and the third knocked the top two pillows of her fort to the ground.

"I think Ron would be better at this than you, Gin!" Harry teased. He shouldn't have.

"THAT'S IT, HARRY! ATTACK, MY KOALAS!" All ten of her leftover stuffed animals flew through the air. Harry shot pillows back and intercepted the koalas, knocking them to the floor. But before he could reload, Ginny had launched herself at the fort, screaming, "PILLOW FIGHT!"

"Ahhh!" Harry and Teddy both yelled. Soon, a full blown pillow fight was being fought in the Potters' living room.

Teddy laughed the loudest of the three. "Get her, daddy!" Harry dropped the pillow he was about to use to hit Ginny. She dropped her pillow too, and stared at Harry. Her look plainly stated, What do we do?

"Teddy?" Harry asked tentatively. He wasn't really sure how he wanted to accomplish it, but he needed to make sure Teddy knew that Harry was not his father.

"Yeah, Harry?" he asked. He looked a little upset at the sudden stop in their game. "What happened?"

"Well, you called me daddy. I- I'm not your father, even though I'm very close to you," Harry began. "Your mother and father were very brave people, and they died to make the world a better place for you. I want you to always remember them." They'd explained what happened to Remus and Tonks before, but how could any four-year old understand?

"So I have no daddy, or mommy," Teddy said. Tears were coming to his eyes.

"Teddy, your mommy and daddy will always be with you, and one day, you will see them. I never got to meet by mommy and daddy either," Harry said softly.

Teddy sniffled. "You didn't?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "But I always knew they were watching over me, just like your parents are watching over you."

Ginny broke her silence. "And, Uncle Harry and I will always be there for you, just like your grandparents, and Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron, Uncle George, Aunt Angelina-"

Teddy giggled. "Uncle Ron eats a lot."

Harry laughed. "He sure does, Teddy. How about we go eat some pizza, and then we can watch a movie?"

"Okay, Uncle Harry."

* * *

**Author's Note: Here are the birthdays of the children that we figured. We tried to make them as accurate as possible and stick to canon. ****Please review with comments, questions, and opinions. **

**KIDS BIRTHDAYS: **

**Teddy- April 7, 1998 **

**Victoire- May 2, 2000**

**Dominique- June 8, 2002**

**Molly II- December 23, 2003**

**Louis- July 3, 2004**

****James**\- April 1, 2005**

**Fred II- May 27, 2005**

**Rose- March 14, 2006**

**Albus- July 31, 2006**

**Roxanne- February 4, 2008 **

**Lucy- March 27, 2008**

**Hugo- May 7, 2008**

**Lily- August 18, 2008**


	2. For the First Time

**Author's Note: Enjoy the next chapter! **

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**For the First Time**

"Ginny! Harry! Come in, come in! And who's this little fellow? Teddy! Hello, dear, come on in. Everyone's in the kitchen!" Molly greeted the Potters and little Teddy as they stepped over the threshold. She led them into the kitchen, where the entire family met for their weekly Saturday gathering and dinner.

The entire Weasley clan looked up at their entrance and rushed over as one big wave, engulfing Harry, Ginny, and Teddy in a giant hug. Teddy, a bit overwhelmed, started crying. He wasn't used to all of these people, it was usually just he and his grandmother.

The wave pushed back at the sound, and it was rather funny, as everyone tripped over one another and the people in the far back ended up on their bums on the floor. Looking at it from a distance, it looked like an obscure dance move attempted by people with absolutely no coordination whatsoever. Molly, ever the worrier, ran about, helping people up and checking for injuries.

Teddy was still crying in the middle of all this, and no matter what Harry or Ginny did, Teddy wouldn't stop crying. Molly, having checked everyone for injuries, deemed that Teddy's happiness was the most important thing at the moment, and promptly started pushing everyone aside in order to get to Teddy.

"Dang, woman, you push hard!"

"Bloody hell, I'm bruising! She bruised me!"

"MUM! That hurts!"

Molly finally reached Teddy after injuring several of her family members (ironically) and took him from Harry.

"Hush, darling, don't worry, Gramma's got you now, come on, let's talk a little walk about, shall we, dear?" Molly said gently, trying to soothe the wailing toddler. Molly and Teddy walked out of the kitchen followed by Harry and Ginny while everyone else started up their conversations again.

Molly, Teddy, Harry, and Ginny walked into the living room where Bill and Fleur were sitting together, with Fleur holding a little bundle of blankets in her arms.

"Fleur! Oh! Is that...?" Ginny asked, leaning over to look at the bundle.

"Yes, it eez leetle Victoire. Would you like to 'old 'er?" Fleur asked, smiling up at Ginny. Victoire had been born on the second anniversary of the war. Her name meant "victory" in French.

"Oh! Er- yes, I-I guess, but-" Ginny was cut off by Fleur placing Victoire in her arms. Harry walked up behind Ginny and the couple smiled down at the little baby girl, who yawned, blinking her blue eyes. She looked just like a miniature Fleur.

"Do you want to see Victoire?" Molly asked Teddy, who was still sobbing. She carried him over to Victoire, and the adults all watched, amazed, as Teddy stopped crying immediately. Teddy reached out and touched Victoire's hand, and she grabbed his finger.

Teddy's and Victoire's gazes locked together.

The adults looked at each other.

There was something special between Teddy and Victoire.

* * *

All the adults in the kitchen stared at each other in awe. George was the first to break the silence.

"Fifty galleons they get married."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please review!**


	3. New Life

**Author's Note: Here's the third oneshot. Hope you like it.**

**Teddy- 4 years old  
**

**Victoire- 2 years old  
**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**New Life**

Percy nervously surveyed his family at the table. Bill and Arthur were arguing about Quidditch, Harry was trying to get Teddy to eat his peas, and a very pregnant Fleur was scolding Victoire for hitting George in the face with her princess wand. Hermione and Ginny were talking about their life in the Ministry while Molly was fussing at Ron, telling him to eat less. All in all, it was a typical Weasley family Saturday dinner.

He grabbed Audrey's hand. "We have an important announcement to make," he started off nervously. "Um, everyone-"

"You're getting married! " Molly exclaimed, clasping her hands together. The table silenced, and after the initial shock, the women immediately got up to congratulate Audrey, while all the men got up and clapped Percy on the back, and the table was filled with noise once again.

"Nice, Perce," Bill said, smiling. After all this time, his brother deserved some happiness, even though his actions during the war still somewhat strained his relationship with the family.

"Only took you two and a half years of dating her, Percy," George teased.

"When's the wedding?" Harry asked, stopping Teddy from running away from his vegetables.

"We wanted it to be in the summer, so we decided July 10." Audrey replied.

"Also, I- I wanted you to be the best man, Harry, " Percy said. There was silence once more. It seemed like such a surprise, given Percy's past with Harry-

"I'd be honored to, Percy. Thank you." He got up and shook Percy's hand, pulling Percy into a hug.

"OH!" Fleur gasped, clutching her stomach. All the attention immediately went to her.

"What's wrong? Are you going to throw up? Is it the baby? Should I call an ambulance? Are you dying? What's happening?" Bill was frantically flitting around Fleur, not thinking straight, and Ginny grabbed a frying pan off of the stove and hit him on the head.

"Get it together! Your wife's in labor! GET BLOODY MOVING AND TAKE HER TO THE HOSPITAL!" Ginny yelled at Bill. Bill, still in a daze from getting smacked on the head with a pan, picked up Fleur and rushed her to their Muggle car.

* * *

Bill, nursing his crushed fingers, smiled down at their baby, Dominique. She had brunette hair, oddly enough. Bill thought it might've came from far down Fleur's side of the family. She was asleep, tired out by all of the family visits. But they still needed to meet two more people…

"You wanted to see me, Bill?" Percy asked, leading Audrey.

"Yeah, Perce. Fleur and I were talking, and we wanted you and Audrey to be the godparents."

Percy's mouth dropped open.

"You see, we wanted to honor you, Perce, and how you came back in the end. We want to start fresh, and so does the rest of the family. We know that you've been feeling a little alone, after what happened, and we want you to know that you're not. We all want you to come back to the family again."

After a moment's pause, Percy said, "Thanks for not giving up on me, Bill."

"I don't think the family ever has." A cry ended their conversation. "You want to see Dominique, Perce?"

They went over to the bassinet where a whimpering baby girl lay.

Percy picked her up, and she stopped crying. "Hi, Dominique. I'm your godfather, Percy."

* * *

**Author's Note: Hope you liked the one shot. Reviews are always appreciated.  
**


	4. Red and Green

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! This is part one of two parts, and part two will be up sometime this weekend hopefully. **

** To ZevieANDHinnyFan, thank you for your reviews! Here is a Harry and Ginny fic!**

**Also, thank you to all those who reviewed, followed, and favorited this story!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Red and Green**

Harry walked down a street in Muggle London, his hands in his pockets. He approached the horrible store. Here he had to do something. Something that he'd been almost dreading since last week.

He had to buy an engagement ring for Ginny.

Harry pushed the door open of _Beaux Diamants _and found his senses assuaged by the scent of roses and perfume. The inside of the store was pink. Almost completely pink. The lighting, the walls, the upholstery, the sofas; they were all pink. The only things that _weren't_ pink were the rings. There were quite a few of them, sitting on small pink cushions. Harry sat down on one of the pink couches. Hermione had said she would meet him here.

After about five minutes, the door jingled and Hermione walked in, her hair as bushy as always. "Hi, Harry!" she said. She seemed very excited when Harry told her he was going to propose, and she had said she would help him pick out the best ring possible. He was pretty grateful- otherwise, he'd be totally lost.

"Hi, Hermione. Thanks for coming."

"Of course, Harry. I can't have you buying any old rock. It has to be special. Now, where are the workers?" Hermione led the way to the counter and rang the bell.

"Just a minute, sorry!" came a very familiar voice, but Harry couldn't quite place it.

"Now, how can I help you both-," the voice stopped abruptly, and the speaker came into view. Romilda Vane stood in a pink dress, gaping at Harry and Hermione.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll be right back!" She all but ran from the room. Harry pulled Hermione closer to the door, out of Romilda's earshot.

"You didn't tell me this was Romilda Vane's store!" Harry hissed.

"I didn't know! This is where Ron bought me that beautiful necklace for my birthday a few months back, but he apparently just so happened to forget that the store he bought it in was owned by the woman who used to fancy you!" She looked very angry, and Harry was glad it wasn't directed at him.

"Well, can we leave?" Harry asked, edging towards the door.

"No, of course not. This is the best store for rings, everyone knows it! You're just going to have to get through it. Don't you want the best for Ginny?"

Harry wished she hadn't phrased it like that. Of course, he would make sure Ginny had the best ring ever. "Alright. Let's just get this over with."

"Harry! You cannot get over with buying your engagement ring! You have to do it slowly and carefully, finding the perfect one! But, just to warn you," Hermione said to Harry's increasingly sour expression, "This means you may have to be in the company of Romilda Vane for a few hours, maybe longer."

"I am terribly sorry about that- I had a call waiting. Now, how can I help you? Romila asked, returning from her office.

Hermione nudged Harry and gave him one of her patented Hermione glares. When he didn't say anything, she spoke. "Yes, we're looking for engagement rings."

Shock flitted across Romilda's face. "You two are getting married? I don't want to be snooping, obviously, but I thought Hermione was with Ron Weasley?"

Hermione blushed. "No, no. Harry is getting married to Ginny Weasley, and he asked me to help him buy a ring." Harry vaguely registered the fact that he didn't ask her for help- she had volunteered.

"Right, of course. Well, over here, we have our special rings, imported from France." she unlocked the case and pulled out a tray of rings. "Have a look around and feel free to call me if you need anything." She went back into her office.

"I guess she still fancies me," Harry said, chuckling.

"No… I think she's just embarrassed about what she did in our sixth year. Besides, I heard she's dating Seamus."

"Poor bloke." Harry wrinkled his nose.

"Harry!"

"Sorry. Let's look at the rings now." He peered down at the tray of rings Romilda had left out for them. "Isn't it kind of dangerous to leave them out here like that? I mean, we could walk out with some of them if we wanted."

"Harry! You don't say those things in a jewelry store!"

"Oh… sorry. What about this one?" he asked, holding up a ring.

"No, too tacky."

"This one?" Harry picked up the next ring.

"No, it looks like it's made of plastic. Keep searching."

Harry held up another ring, but before he could even say anything, Hermione gave him a look.

"Really, Harry? You thought you would buy _that_ ring? For _Ginny_?" Harry blushed and scratched the back of his neck. "You are more hopeless than Ron. Actually, wait, no. No one is more hopeless than Ron. But still, Harry? You actually thought of buying that monstrosity?" The ring was, just like the store, entirely pink. It looked like Madam Puddifoot's tea shop encapsulated in a ring.

Hermione perused another ring. "Hm.. this one looks okay. What do you think, Harry? Harry?" She turned around and saw Harry at the other side of the store, looking down at a ring, transfixed.

Hermione walked over. "Harry? What are you looking- oh! It's perfect!" She almost squealed in delight.

The ring had a silver band that was inscribed with a sophisticated swirl design. The main attraction were the two gems in the middle; and emerald and a ruby. There were tiny diamonds inlaid around the perimeter of the two big gems, but nothing separated the two.

"Harry! It's perfect! It's almost like it was made for the two of you! The red is Ginny; she's fiery and determined, not to mention she has red hair, and the green is you! You're calm and collected, and your eyes are green! It fits you both so well." Hermione was analyzing the ring excitedly, and all Harry could do was stand there and wait for her to run out of steam so that he could finally speak.

"Let's buy this one, Hermione." Harry cut Hermione off mid-analysis and called the owner of the shop. "Romilda! I've found what I want!"

Romilda came out of her office a little slowly and smiled when Harry pointed at the ring he wanted. "I think that works for both of you."

* * *

**Author's Note: Hope you liked it, part two will be up later. Thank you. Please review!  
**


	5. Who's Getting Married?

**Author's Note: Alright, here's part two! This is the follow up to Red and Green. Hope you all enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

**Teddy- 4 years old**

* * *

**Who's Getting Married?**

"Are you- you know- doing it today?" Hermione asked. Harry was sitting on the couch in the Burrow, nervously fidgeting with the ring.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to ask her. I think."

"Harry, you said you were going to propose last week!" Hermione whispered.

"Well, I had a hard time thinking of how to do it."

"Just-," Hermione stopped talking when Ron came in, holding a plate of food.

"Wha're you 'oo doin?" Ron asked, his mouth full.

"Ron, stop talking with your mouth full. It's disgusting." Hermione gave Ron a look of distaste.

"'Orry, 'Mione," Ron replied. Bits of food flew out of his mouth and hit Ginny, who had just walked into the room, in the face.

"Ron! Ew, you spit your food all over me, you git!" Ginny grabbed Ron's arm and used it to wipe off her face.

Harry's eyes widened and he fumbled to put away the ring box.

"Harry? What have you got there?" Ginny asked curiously, walking to sit next to Harry on the couch. Harry fumbled to put the box away.

"N- nothing," Harry stuttered. Ron took that moment to go back to the kitchen to get more food and Ginny stomped after him. "Ron, you eat too much..." Her voice faded away and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Harry. Go propose now." Hermione's voice was insistent. "You need to do it. You already have everything planned out, so why are you so frightened?"

"Because… what if she says no, Hermione?" Harry slumped down in his seat, his biggest fear revealed. Hermione softened.

"Harry, you two have been through too much together for her to leave you now. I mean, she could've left you when we went to go fight Voldemort during our seventh year. It wasn't like there was a lack of suitors. She told me that almost every boy in the school tried to ask her out. She even went on quite a few dates. Oh! She told me about this date that she went on with a boy in her year, Perry Trigell, I think was his name. She really liked him-"

"Hermione! Thank you for building up my confidence," Harry hissed sarcastically

"Oh, sorry, Harry. But honestly, I've never been more certain of anything in my whole life. She will say yes." Hermione gave him a reassuring smile.

Harry sighed. "Alright. I'll do it after dinner."

Hermione smiled, just as Molly called, "Dinner's ready! Come on, everyone! Ron, wait for everyone else!"

"Good luck, Harry." Hermione squeezed his hand and went into the dining room. Harry adjusted the ring box in his pocket when a blur of blue hair rammed into him.

"Woah! Teddy!"

"Hi Uncle Harry! Gwandma Andwomeda said I could come!" Teddy jumped off of Harry and pulled his hand. "Let's go eat! Gwandma Molly said she made cake!" Harry chuckled and followed Teddy.

* * *

"This cake is delicious, mum." Ron shovelled more of it into his mouth. Harry glanced around the table. Hermione and Ginny were talking about something, while Arthur and Percy were talking about Muggle ovens. Teddy had long since left to go play. Molly was fussing over Molly II and Audrey while Bill and Fleur were coaxing Victoire to finish her peas.

Harry's stomach fluttered with nerves. What if she does say no? What if I mess up this marriage? What if she hates me?

"Auntie Ginny? What's this?" Teddy came bounding into the room and ran over to Ginny. She took whatever it was he was holding, and then her jaw dropped. Wordlessly, she showed it to Hermione, who blanched.

Hermione was mouthing something to Harry, but he couldn't understand. Meanwhile, Molly had gone over to Ginny.

"What did Teddy find, dear?" She looked down at what Ginny was holding and her jaw dropped as well.

"Oh, my!" She said, clutching Ginny's arm. "Who's getting married?"

Harry's heart stopped. He frantically felt his pockets for the ring. It wasn't there. All of his worst fears and more were coming to light.

"I- I have to use the restroom." Harry all but fled from the room. He ran into the loo that was next to the kitchen and shut the door, his heart pounding. Everything was ruined now. Molly hadn't known about the ring... because Harry had completely forgot about telling Mr. and Mrs. Weasley! _Who the hell does that?_ he thought.

"Ron! Is this your ring?" Harry could hear Molly almost screeching.

"George?" she asked again.

"That leaves… Harry?" Harry groaned. He was going to have to go outside and face the family. He slowly pushed the creaky door open and was met by the staring eyes of the whole family. Hermione was looking apologetic, while George was smirking evilly. Ron was glaring daggers at Harry, and Ginny, worst of all, was gaping at Harry as though she had never seen him before.

"May I please borrow Ginny? And may I have that box?" Harry asked, red in the face.

Ginny got up from her seat and took the box from her mother. Then, head held high, she marched outside and Harry followed. He could hear someone laughing behind him and flushed an even deeper red.

Harry took the box from Ginny, held her hand, and led her farther away from the house. He made for the little gazebo structure that the Weasleys had in their side yard. Once he got to the gazebo, he turned to Ginny and got down on one knee, still holding her hand. Ginny gasped, although she already knew what was coming.

"Ginny, the first thing I noticed about you was how beautiful your eyes were. And then your flaming, red hair, which is as colorful as your personality. I know that I've done many things wrong, and I'd hoped that this one thing would turn out right... It hasn't, as you can see." Ginny let out a short laugh. She was tearing up. "I love you so much, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me, Ginny?" Harry looked up hopefully, and started to panic when he saw the tears in her eyes. "Why are you crying? Oh no, I did something wrong, didn't I? I'm so sorr-" Ginny cut him off.

"Of course I'll marry you, Harry, you git. I love you." Relieved, Harry slid the ring onto Ginny's finger. But just as he started to kiss her, a very flustered Ron fell out of the bushes and landed on the ground near Harry and Ginny.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed. Apparently the entire Weasley family was listening in.

Ron stood up and, straightening his shirt. His eyes widened when he saw Harry and Ginny.

"Oi! You're not married yet!" He ran towards Harry and Ginny, who jumped and took off towards the Burrow, hand in hand, Ron in close pursuit.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you to ZevieANDHinnyFan, Lt. Basil, brookeyhoneybee, and Nikki for their reviews last chapter! And thank you to those who followed and favorited this story. **

**And on a side note, Chapter 6 of my other story, the Journey, was posted. Check it out!**

**And as always, reviews are appreciated. **


	6. Leave Me Again

**Author's Note: I always thought that Percy's healing and growing back to the Weasley's took time, and it affected more than just his parents and siblings. **

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Leave Me Again**

"Alright Molly, time to go to bed now." Audrey gently placed the little baby girl in the crib before kissing her on the forehead. Percy, watching from the door frame, smiled softly as Audrey tucked Molly in and made sure she was asleep.

"What's wrong, Audrey?" Percy asked.

"What? I-I'm not quite sure I understand." Audrey defended herself against the accusation and tried to walk past Percy to the kitchen. There was still dinner to put away, and then she needed to clean the dishes, and wash the table, then do the laundry...

"Audrey. You've been avoiding me." Apparently Percy had followed her.

"No, I haven't, I've just been really busy and-"

"You always wait to eat dinner with me, Audrey. And you always wait until I'm finished so that we can put Molly to bed together. What's wrong?" Percy asked once more.

Audrey broke down. She turned around to face Percy. "I'm scared that you'll leave me- us- again, like you did before, during the War."

"I- what?" Percy was flabbergasted. Audrey, wiping tears from her eyes, spoke again.

"You left your family, Percy. Molly and I, we're your family now. What if you leave us again? I'm scared, Percy." Percy reached out for Audrey, to hug her, to comfort her, but Audrey moved away.

Percy, his heart breaking, said, "I won't leave you. Not now, not ever."

"But how do I know that, Percy? How do I know you won't leave me? Us? You've done it before, and you know what they say, 'Old habits die hard'! I don't think I could deal with you leaving Percy! I don't-"

"I told you, Audrey, I'm not going to leave you. You and Molly mean so much to me, _so much_, and I could never leave you for some job offer from the Ministry. I'd give it all up for you, Audrey. I'd give it all up if it were in your and Molly's best interests. I love Molly. I love _you_."

Audrey, with fresh tears in her eyes, asked, "Do you promise?"

"I promise, Audrey. I do."

"Okay, Perce. I'm sorry for not trusting you."

"It's alright, Audrey. I understand." Audrey reached up and gave Percy a kiss. Pulling away, she promised, "I love you, Percy."

"I love you too, Audrey."

* * *

The next morning, Audrey got out of bed. She'd had a good night's sleep, since Molly had only woken up once. Audrey went into the nursery, and what she saw had her heart melting.

Percy was asleep in the rocking chair, Molly's basket on his lap. His glasses were askew and he was snoring lightly, the basket rising and falling with each breath. She smiled to herself and hurried back to her room to grab a blanket. Walking back to the nursery, Audrey gently took Molly and put her back in the crib, then tenderly placed the blanket over Percy's sleeping form. She dropped a light kiss on his forehead and he smiled in his sleep.

They would be alright.

* * *

**Author's Note: ****Thanks to all those who reviewed, followed, and favorited. **

**Chapter 8 of my other fic, The Journey, will be posted soon.**

**Please review with your thoughts/ comments! Have you all been liking these one-shots so far? **


	7. Meetings and Rejections

**Author's Note: Welcome to Part One of the "Harry and Ginny Wedding Four Part Event Spectacular!" As you probably guessed, there are four parts to the wedding. I usually don't post every day, but I guess this can be a Valentine's Day treat! ****Hope you enjoy it. **

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Meetings and Rejections**

"How many people is that?" Harry asked, peering down at the list Ginny was holding.

Ginny looked down at the list. "40 invites so far. We already did all of our teachers, Order members, and those in the DA, along with my family. I think that's everyone."

"So, this is the official wedding guest list, then?"

"I guess so. Only four more months, Harry," Ginny said happily.

Harry smiled in return. They were getting married in four months. All of the hardships they had faced, everything they had sacrificed, it made this possible.

"Wait, Harry…" Ginny trailed off. "We're forgetting someone."

"Who?" He couldn't think of anyone else he wanted at their wedding.

"The- the Dursleys…" she said. "They're your family, after all."

"No. They're not my family. They hate me. They won't even want to come!" Harry said. He hadn't given the Dursleys a shred of thought for ages. That was his old life, and they clearly didn't appreciate him, so it was best for him to move on. But now, Ginny wanted to invite them?

"They hate magic. They'll say they won't want to waste their time coming to a freak's wedding."

"Harry, you need to at least ask them. Maybe they've changed!"

"Ginny, they locked me in a cupboard for eleven years, then spent the next seven pretending I didn't exist. I don't think they'll listen."

"Can we just try? I don't feel right without them there… she's your mum's sister. I think your mum would have tried, too."

Harry sighed. If he disagreed, Ginny would keep pestering him. If he agreed, he could show Ginny how much the Dursleys despised of him and magic, and then they could move on past this.

"Alright, we can go. When do you want?"

"We can't exactly drop in on them… let's call them first, with the fellytone."

"Telephone," Harry corrected automatically. "Okay, I'll call but you can talk... Oh, and you don't need to shout into it. They'll be able to hear you just fine." Ginny nodded in response then followed Harry to the telephone, where he quickly dialed Vernon and Petunia's home phone number.

"Here," Harry said as it rang. He went over to the kitchen table and sat down nervously. He didn't know how this was going to end.

"Hello? Is this Mrs. Dursley?" Ginny asked. "My name is Ginny. Well, I'm pleased to tell you that you and your husband have won an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. I will be over tomorrow with the details.

"What? You don't remember entering? No, you did. When you subscribe to the magazine, uh, London Gossiper, you get entered. I'll be by tomorrow to give you your information. Goodbye!"

"Why did you say they won a trip to Hawaii?" Harry asked, befuddled.

"If I'd told them that you and I wanted to come over tomorrow, they'd tell us to get the hell out of their lives. I needed an excuse to get into their house, and then we can drop the bomb once we're in there."

Harry stared incredulously.

"I think that went rather well, how about you?" Ginny's voice faded as she walked off, seemingly unperturbed.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Ginny?" Harry asked, a bit nervously.

"Yes. It will be fine. Don't worry," Ginny said soothingly.

Harry took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go." He rang the doorbell of Number 4, Privet Drive. The door swung open, and there stood Petunia Dursley, wearing a Hawaiian flower themed shirt.

"Oh, you must be Ginny! Come in, come in!" she trilled, then stopped at the sight of her nephew. She gaped at him for a minute, then tried to slam the door shut. Ginny stopped her and pushed it open.

"Hello, Mrs. Dursley, I'm Ginny Weasley, Harry's fiance. May we come in?"

Petunia looked very flustered. "I hardly think- I shouldn't..."

"It looks like you're making a big scene. What will the neighbors think? We could easily leave and, I don't know, accidentally slip and do some magic?" Ginny said sweetly.

Petunia blanched, then held the door open, scowling. "Fine, come in. Quickly!"

Ginny took Harry's hand and led him through the sickly, bright-colored Muggle home. He looked like he was in shock, and she squeezed his hand reassuringly. She knew this was going to be hard for him, but that was why she insisted on coming- Harry, Vernon, and Petunia needed to grow past this and move on, maybe mending their relationship bit by bit.

"Petunia, who are you talking to? Is it the-" A large, fat man waddled into the kitchen and abruptly stopped talking when he caught sight of his nephew.

"Petunia! A word, please?" He led his wife into the next room. Ginny could hear snippets of conversation, like, "Get him out!" and "He'll tell the neighbors if we do!" After a few minutes, the Dursleys came back in.

"What do you need from us?" Vernon asked rudely.

"Well… Harry and I are getting married soon," Ginny said, for Harry seemed extremely reluctant to speak.

There was a pause. "Alright," Vernon grunted.

"We were just wondering, even though we haven't seen you since the war, you are Harry's relatives, and we were just- we wanted to invite you to our wedding," Ginny said, feeling Harry's nervousness affect her as well. She interpreted the Dursley's silence as shock at the invitation. She plowed forward.

"It's in May, and we'd be very happy if you could come. Here's the invitation," she pulled from her pocket a gold embossed card and held it out to the Dursleys, who didn't move.

"They won't come, Ginny," Harry said, his voice hardening. "Why would they? I'm just a freak, or so they think.

"Was your sister a freak, Aunt Petunia? How does it feel to know that your sister, Lily Potter, spent ten years knowing that her sister hated her? How does it feel to know that your jealousy never mended that relationship, and you'll never be able to? You two are horrible people.

"I'm so glad I was neglected and ignored by you, because if you hadn't ignored me, I fear that I would have turned out like you. And I'm so glad that didn't happen. I don't want you at my wedding. I don't want to ever be near you again." Harry turned and stomped out the door. Ginny felt sick to her stomach. This wasn't how their reunion was supposed to go.

Ginny turned back to Vernon and Petunia. Vernon spoke. "Take your stupid card and get out. We'll never be associated with freaks like you." His face was red.

Ginny looked at Petunia. She didn't speak, her face peculiar, as though she was holding something back.

"Don't expect to see us ever again," Ginny said. Her temper was rising, but this was Harry's fight, not her's, and he had already said everything that she wanted to. Except for one thing.

"I think Lily would be ashamed of you, Petunia." Ginny turned around and walked back through the house and out the door. She found Harry leaning on the doorframe, his expression unreadable.

"Ready to go, love?" Ginny asked tentatively.

"Yeah. I think I finally am," he said.

* * *

**Author's Note: We didn't get any reviews last chapter! Please review this time! Thanks :) **


	8. Frantic Preparations

**Author's Note: Welcome to Part Two of the "Harry and Ginny Wedding Four Part Event Spectacular!". In case anyone is confused, last one-shot was part one. Part two (this one-shot) and part three (next one-shot) will be preparations. Then part four is the wedding! Hope you all enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. **

* * *

**Frantic Preparations **

_**1 Week Before the Wedding**_

"How about here, mum?" George asked as he held up a bunch of streamers with his wand. They were decorating the yard outside the Burrow for Harry and Ginny's wedding, and George couldn't understand why the trees needed decorations, seeing as the tent took up most of the yard, therefore blocking the trees from view.

"How about a little to the left?" Molly suggested. George moved it to the left, nearly elbowing Ron in the face.

"No, that's no good, go a bit to the right this time." George sighed and shimmied to the right.

"How's that, mum?" He asked.

"Great, now a bit higher maybe?" Molly said. George moved all around, listening to Molly's directions and groaning as the stress of holding up his arm took over. Ron kept stuffing food in his mouth and laughing at the sight.

"Ronald! Get off your butt and bring over that extremely heavy pile of chairs!" Molly yelled. George snickered as Ron tried to lift them, then resorted to using his wand.

"Ron! Now go set up the tables inside the tent, and make sure each one is exactly two and a half meters apart! Otherwise they won't all fit!" she yelled again, frantically looking down her list while hanging laundry and pointing her wand at a mass of yarn and knitting needles, clicking away at the Christmas sweaters she had already started to make. There were quite a lot she needed this year, and they took a while. Best to start early.

George flinched as his mother yelled at him once more. "George, stop laughing and get to work! That banner won't center itself! Oh goodness, we still have to conjure lanterns, create a dance floor, finalize the menu, call everyone, get the dresses, make the food..." Molly muttered to herself, making a mental list as she walked off.

"God, she gets more uptight each time we do this," George muttered to himself. "We still have a week, mum! Calm down!" he yelled to her as she retreated into the kitchen.

* * *

"We're going to have to give Harry 'the Talk,' aren't we," Percy asked.

"Every Weasley man gets it. It's time for him to hear it as well," Arthur said seriously.

"Alright," Charlie agreed.

"Harry!" Bill bellowed up the stairs. "Come down here, please!"

Harry came down, and when he saw all the Weasley men assembled in the kitchen, he stopped.

"Don't give me the marriage talk, Ron already told me exactly what you're going to say to me after I asked him to be Best Man!" Harry said, shielding his face with his arms as though it would protect him from the others.

"How does Ron know?" Percy muttered.

"George probably told him," Bill whispered back.

Charlie turned to Harry. "Well, if you've already been briefed on the talk, we'll let you go with one last remark- if you ever hurt Ginny, or leave her, or anything like that, we'll curse your brains out. Now go and have a good wedding!"

* * *

_**Five Days Before the Wedding**_

"George? Have you decorated the inside of the tent?" Molly asked, frantically scribbling a list of groceries needed for the wedding so Arthur could go buy them.

"Yes," George said exasperatedly. "I did the lanterns and Ron's done the tables. The altar is finished. Now all that's left is ordering the flowers, conjuring lanterns, and building the dance floor."

"Then what are you waiting for? GO!" Molly screeched, and George ran out in fear. "Useless, that's what he is..." Molly muttered to herself as she finished her list.

* * *

Ginny sat in her room, going through her jewelry and setting aside items she thought would go well with her dress. She remembered when she had asked her best friend to have the highest position in the bridal party.

"_Hermione? Can I ask you something?" Ginny walked into the living room, taking a seat on the couch next to Hermione._

"_Sure, what is it, Ginny?" _

"_Er... Will you be my Maid of Honor?" Ginny twisted her hands nervously._

"_Of course! I'd be honored to," Hermione replied, a warm smile on her face and her eyes twinkling. She tackled Ginny in a warm embrace._

Ginny was roughly jerked from her memories by the loud yell that pierced the silence of the Burrow.

"GINNY, HERMIONE, ANGELINA, FLEUR, AND LUNA! WE NEED TO GO PICK UP YOUR DRESSES AND MAKE SURE THEY FIT! GINNY, YOU BETTER NOT HAVE PUT ON ANY MORE WEIGHT BECAUSE I AM _NOT_ GETTING YOUR DRESS RESIZED!" Molly yelled up the stairs. Five sets of feet thundered down the many flights of stairs the Burrow had accumulated over the years.

"The dresses are at the Delacours' store in France," Molly said, leading the girls outside. "The portkey's right around here somewhere..." Molly's voice faded as she wandered around, searching for the portkey.

"So, Ginny, are you excited?" Hermione asked as they waited for Molly to find the portkey.

"Yes! I'll be marrying the man I've loved since... I think my whole life." Ginny realized, staring dreamily into the distance.

"Found it! Alright, ready to go?" Molly came back with a dirty old boot in her hand. "Hold on, then!" There was a familiar jerk behind their navels and their heads felt like they were being squeezed. The bridal party landed jarringly on the ground in front of the Delacours' dress shop.

"Alright, everybody! Come een, pleese, I will show you around since my Maman and Papa are out," Fleur said as she led them all into the dress shop. "The dresses zat you 'ave picked out are back 'ere. I 'ave already tried on my dress." Fleur opened a door to a back room. Ginny walked in, the others behind her. On a rack was a big black garment bag.

"Your dress ees in zere, Ginny." Fleur said.

"I'm going to go try it on," Ginny announced, taking the dress and leaving to go change.

"And zese are your dresses, Luna and Angelina." Fleur pointed out. The two bridesmaids dresses were sleeveless and a pale blue color. They had a V-crossover neck and silver glitter on the skirts.

"Oh, they're so pretty, Ginny!" Luna called out the door.

"I know, right? I saw them and knew immediately that I wanted them for you both," Ginny replied, her voice muffled. Angelina and Luna took their dresses and left to go try them on.

"And zat leaves you, 'Ermione. I zink zat you will really like your dress." Fleur said, leading Hermione and Molly to the Maid of Honor's dress. It looked exactly like the bridesmaids' dresses, except that it was a pale silver with blue glitter on the skirt.

"I love it, Ginny!" Hermione yelled.

"I thought you would!" Came the reply. Hermione left to try on her dress.

Angelina, Luna, and Hermione reentered the room where Fleur and Molly were waiting, each wearing their respective dresses.

Ginny entered in her wedding dress and the other women gasped. The dress was an off-white color, sleeveless with thick straps and a sweetheart neckline. The bodice had a swirly design picked out with a glittery silver thread and the skirt reached down to the floor. The bottom layer was made of silk and it was covered with a layer of silvery-white tulle.

"Oh, Ginny! It's beautiful!" Angelina gasped, reaching out to finger the layer of tulle.

"It is, isn't it?" Ginny asked, smiling as she smoothed her hand over the skirt.

"I really like it, dear. It looks wonderful on you," Molly spoke up.

"Thanks, mum." Ginny smiled at Molly and hugged her.

"Alright, let's take these dresses and go home. I think we're done here." Molly said, and Ginny, Angelina, Luna, and Hermione all left to go change back out of their dresses.

* * *

"Time to go get the dress robes," Arthur said. Ron and his brothers groaned. The Weasley men, Neville, and Harry went through the floo one at a time, shouting, "Madam Malkin's!" Arthur landed in the store and found George, Percy, Bill, Charlie, Neville, and future son-in-law all holding bundles of dress robes already.

He quickly got his own from Madam Malkin, who said, "This is so much easier than girls' clothing for a wedding."

Arthur was very glad.

"Now, Ronald, you have to wear slightly different robes because you're best man and we need to have you stand out slightly," Madam Malkin said, handing them to him. "Now, everyone, go try these on!"

After a few more minutes, she said, "I think you're all good!" She waved to them as they exited back through the floo. Arthur smiled. Everything was going well for his baby girl's wedding.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks to ZevieAndHinnyFan and Katie, the reviewers last chapter.  
**

** Please review with your comments! What do you want to see more of/ less of? Reviews are very helpful, so please review. Thanks for reading. **


	9. Almost There

**Author's Note: Welcome to Part Three of the "Harry and Ginny Wedding Four Part Event Spectacular!". This part covers three days before the wedding and the day before the wedding. And, after this one-shot, we have the wedding! Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

**Almost There**

_**Three Days Before the Wedding**_

"Yes, hello? I'm not used to the fellytone, is this Humdingers' DJ Dudes?" Molly asked into the Muggle phone.

"Yes, it is. Who's got the pleasure of calling me?" the man asked.

"Molly Weasley."

"We have you penned down for three days from now, May 20, 2003. Location: Burrow. Event: Wedding. We'll see you then to get you all in the groove, sista!" he hung up. Molly shook her head in exasperation.

Next, Molly picked up the telephone and dialed the wedding company. "Hello, this is Molly Weasley. You are officiating my daughter, Ginevra's, wedding. I just wanted to confirm that the date of May 20, 2003 works…"

"Yes. We will arrive an hour earlier just to prepare. Have a good day." The woman at the other end of the line hung up.

Molly then went through and called everyone on the guest list to finalize all the logistics. After the fortieth call, she put the phone down and breathed a sigh of relief. All of the things they had needed to book were set and ready. But there was still so much to do...

* * *

"Come on, Teddy, please!" Arthur said as five year old Teddy sat, stony faced, not wanting to do his duty as ring bearer.

"But I don't wanna! I wanna play instead!" he said, holding out a toy truck.

"But, Teddy, this is very important to Harry and Ginny. Don't you want to make them happy?" Arthur reasoned.

"Well... Okay, I guess," Teddy said, picking up the cushion he was going to hold as he walked down the aisle.

Arthur smiled. Seven rounds of practice paid off, didn't they? "Alright, Teddy, so you have to walk down and hold the pillow when I tell you to, okay? You'll be following Vic."

Teddy nodded, his small face screwed up in concentration. After Arthur set him practicing walking while balancing the cushion, he went back over to Victoire, who was doing a much better job than Teddy. The three year old flower girl loved the idea of throwing petals around and "making the world more pwetty".

"Vic, I want you to go in front of Teddy and walk in front of him first, throwing your petals around like you were before, and he will follow you. Don't walk too fast, though," Arthur said. Vic nodded and went over to Teddy. She led him around the yard of the Burrow, throwing petals while he followed her around. Arthur smiled once again.

* * *

"Hello," George said awkwardly as he walked into the flower shop.

"Welcome, young man. What is the occasion?" A woman asked, her accent slightly French.

"My sister's wedding. I was supposed to come here two days ago, but I forgot. Can we keep that a secret, please?" George asked, picturing his mother's reaction.

"Of course. I also presume that you don't know a thing about flower arrangements, correct?"

"Yeah, but my mum gave me a list of things we need. Can you just get them so I don't mess anything up?" George asked.

"Yes, I will. Make yourself comfortable while I arrange what you need. We will figure out the delivery details later." The woman started walking towards her back room, then turned around.

"Your mother wants the white flowers pointed at 45 degrees and the pink ones pointed at 72 degrees?" she asked incredulously.

George shrugged. "You can still do it, right?"

"Don't worry."

George breathed a sigh in relief. If he messed anything up, there would be one less Weasley attending the wedding.

* * *

"Time for the rehearsal at the wedding venue!" Molly cried. "Meet outside, everyone!"

Some time later, the entire wedding party was in the Weasley's backyard under the tent, along with the minister.

Molly called out instructions to the people participating in the wedding. "All right, Harry, you stand there, and now the organ starts playing as the groomsmen and bridesmaids walk out. You couples will walk down the aisle and sit down in the front! So Angelina and George, good, and then Bill and Fleur, and then Neville and Luna, and next are Maid of Honor and Best Man, so Hermione and Ron! You will both walk down the aisle and, once you get to the stage, you will separate and Ron, you stand next to Harry while Hermione, you stand opposite them, and Ginny will come and stand next to you.

"Then Ginny and Arthur, you two come out (Ginny, you'll be in your dress), and then once you both get to the stage, Arthur, you walk Ginny up there and leave her in front of Harry and next to the priest, good, Hermione, make sure you're next to her! And then Arthur you leave and sit down in the front next to me."

"And then I'll do my spiel, which I won't do right now because I don't want to bore you to death before your wedding, and then come your vows, and then "You may now kiss the bride." And then you're married," the priest recounted, smiling at the couple.

"Thank you for rehearsing, everyone. We really appreciate it," Harry thanked, smiling at the crowd of his friends and (soon to be) family. They all smiled and the sounds of chatter quickly filled up the tent. Harry turned to Ginny, "So, how've you been? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Yeah, we've all been really busy with our own stuff, haven't we?" Ginny agreed.

"GINNY! You and Harry can't see each other until the wedding! It's bad luck!" Hermione cried. Angelina, Luna, and Hermione pried Ginny away from Harry, who was laughing. Ginny shot him a glare over her shoulder as she was dragged away by her bridal party.

* * *

_**One Day Before the Wedding**_

"GINNY! COME DOWN HERE AND HELP ME WITH THE SEATING CHART!" Molly screeched up the stairs. Ginny came down a few moments later.

"Come on, Ginny, we need to plan this." Molly led Ginny to the kitchen where they both sat down in chairs at the table opposite each other.

"So how do we make a seating chart?" Ginny asked.

"You put in names in the little squares on this parchment," Molly said, holding out a paper that had squares arranged in rows. "Just pick who you like best and stick them in front. Who you like least, have them sit in the back. For example," Molly pulled out a quill. "Cho Chang?"

Ginny wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Back row, nearest to that bush with the mosquitoes." Molly wrote the name down in the space.

She looked up from the chart. "Hagrid? Oh, obviously front row, along with all of your brothers, your father, and I. The bridesmaids and groomsmen sit separately, of course. That leaves one more seat in front… who do you want there?"

This continued on for about twenty minutes until Molly said the names, "Dudley Dursley and his wife, Opal."

"Wait, Harry's cousin is coming?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"Yes, he came here last night and asked if he could attend. He was very polite, unlike his parents." Molly was more inclined to insult the Dursleys when Harry was not in earshot.

"But what about Opal? She can't come, she's a Muggle going to a Wizarding wedding, and she doesn't know about magic."

"Opal is a witch," said Molly.

"How the hell would that giant blob of a bloke, Vernon Dursley, ever allow his son to marry a witch?"

"I have no idea."

After another minute, Molly asked worriedly, "Do you think Harry will be fine with it?"

Ginny smiled. "I think he'll be very happy."

* * *

Ginny sighed as she lay face down in the massage chair. She, Luna, Angelina, Hermione, Fleur, and Molly were at the spa, getting pampered for the big day tomorrow.

"Oh, that feels lovely," Ginny sighed as the masseuse dug her palms into Ginny's back. "Just a little further left- oh, that's the spot." Ginny drifted off into a blissful euphoria, only to be pulled out by her mother's shrill voice.

"Ginny! We need to get our nails done, and then facials, so hurry up with your massage!" Ginny rolled her eyes, getting up and thanking her masseuse. Ginny got dressed quickly and walked over to the nails station.

"All right, mum, I'm here," Ginny said, sitting down in one of the big cushioned chairs. "Which color would go with my dress, do you think?" Ginny scrutinized the multitude of colors and her eyes finally landed on a creamy-white with silver glitter scattered throughout. "How's this?" Ginny asked, holding up the bottle.

"I like it, Ginny," Hermione said, picking up a bottle filled with a pale blue, the same color as the sparkles on her dress. "Should I get a layer of glitter over this?" Hermione asked.

"No, your dress is sparkly enough, I think. Besides, the pale blue by itself would go better with your dress than if it had sparkles in it too," Luna said thoughtfully, looking at the bottle in Hermione's hands.

Ginny, Hermione, and Angelina stared. "What? I know a lot about nail polish," Luna defended, shrugging and choosing a bottle of silver glitter. "I think I'll just get this without a solid color underneath."

"Me too," agreed Angelina. Who would ever guess that Luna Lovegood would be giving out fashion advice?

"Mum? What are you going to get? What color is your dress?" Ginny asked curiously.

"It's a light lavender, but I think I'll just get this clear polish. I don't want anything too showy," Molly said. "Besides, I'll be working, so I don't want my nails to look bad if the nail polish gets chipped off or something of the sort."

"Are you ladies ready for your mani-pedis?" The attendant asked.

"Yes, I believe we are," Ginny replied, smiling.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks to ZevieAndHinnyFan and rachelelsie for their reviews last chapter and the followers and favorites!  
Oh, and by the way, please review ;)  
**


	10. I've Lost a Lot, But I Still Have You

**Author's Note: Here it is! Part four! The wedding! Hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**I've Lost a Lot, But I Still Have You**

The bridal party sat at the kitchen table, eating breakfast and drinking coffee. They were all excited for the wedding that day, but none more than Ginny.

Ginny suddenly started talking. It seemed as though she had been wanting to voice her fears for a while now. "What if I'm a bad wife? What if he sees me walking down the aisle and he thinks 'this is _not_ who I want to spend the rest of my life with'?" Ginny's eyes became wild and she started to gesticulate wildly.

"Calm down, Ginny. Harry will not think that, I can guarantee it. He is not the type of man to cheat, and he will be loyal and faithful to you. I've seen all his many sides, and he is not one to leave people without an explanation or a proper goodbye. It's happened to him too many times in his life, and he knows exactly what it feels like. He would never put anyone in that position." Hermione soothed Ginny. She took a deep breath.

"Ok. I'm alright. It's ok," Ginny reassured her bridal party. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, no!" Hermione cried in distress.

"What is it, Hermione?" Molly asked, concerned.

"I forgot about the old Muggle superstition! Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue! They say that if you have all those things, you'll have a successful marriage."

"HERMIONE! HOW COULD YOU HAVE NOT WARNED ME EARLIER! GINNY CAN'T GET A DIVORCE! SHE'LL DIE!" Molly yelled.

"It's okay. We can still figure this out," Angelina said, calming Molly down.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!" Hermione said.

Molly took charge. "Okay, something old, something old, something- oh! I have the perfect thing!" She ran out of the room and reappeared with a rather old box in her hands.

"I've got the perfect thing here," Molly announced, opening the box and pulling out a silver chain. On the chain was a diamond pendant in the shape of a teardrop; simple, yet elegant. "This necklace was your grandmother's, Ginny. She gave it to me, her daughter, and now I'm giving it to you. Something old," said Molly, smiling tearfully as she handed the valuable necklace to her daughter.

"Oh mum, it's beautiful. Thank you," Ginny said, putting it on carefully. After she was sure it was safely clasped around her neck, Ginny turned and gave her mother a hug.

"Alright, next is something new. Well, what've we got that's new?" Molly asked in distress.

"The dress is new!" Luna pointed out.

"That''s right, it is!" Molly said thankfully. "Okay, next is something borrowed...

Hermione piped up. "Ginny could borrow my bracelet, maybe? The one my mum gave me?"

"Yes, that's perfect!" Molly cried. "And lastly, something blue..." Molly trailed off as she looked around the room.

"How about a blue ribbon in her hair?" Angelina suggested.

"Oh, good idea!" Molly said. She ran out of the room again and reappeared with a blue ribbon in her hands. "Now sit down, Ginny, and let us do up this ribbon into your hair." Hermione gently took two chunks of hair from either side of Ginny's face and brought them around to the back of Ginny's head. Angelina then tied the chunks of hair together with a hair tie, and the Luna swooped in and tied the ribbon in an bow over the hair tie.

"Perfect! Of course, we'll have to redo your bow and hair later, but it looks good," said Molly proudly, beaming down at her daughter. "It's time to get into our dresses, girls," she announced, looking down at her watch, and they all went to their rooms to get ready.

* * *

"Are you nervous, Harry?" Ron asked, adjusting his dress robes slightly.

Harry took a moment to respond. "Surprisingly, no, I'm not. I love Ginny, and I don't have any doubts about this. She means the world to me."

"I know, mate." Ron hesitated before plowing forward. "I'm glad Ginny picked someone like you, who'll treat her right. She is my baby sister, after all."

"Thanks, Ron," Harry said, touched. It meant a lot, coming from his best mate. Especially from someone who used to threaten to seriously injure anyone who was in a relationship with Ginny.

* * *

"It's your big day, Ginny," Arthur said as he walked his only daughter to the tent where the wedding was.

"I'm so happy for you, Ginny. I know Harry will treat you well, and I'm so proud of you," Arthur said, his eyes tearing up. The last of his children was getting married. Well, besides Charlie.

"Thanks, daddy."

They peered through the curtain and saw the couples of bridesmaids and groomsmen walking out, amidst the organ music. Ron and Hermione followed them. _The bridesmaids dresses really look stunning_, Ginny thought. Teddy and Vic went next, looking as cute as ever, although Teddy squirmed away when Vic tried to hold his hand.

"That's us, Ginny!" Arthur said. They pushed through the opening of the tent and Arthur and Ginny walked down the aisle. Ginny could feel her heart pounding with nerves. _This is it, Ginny_. She could see Molly crying in the front row, and felt tears of happiness come to her eyes.

There was one terrible moment when the heel of her shoe caught in the carpet, but she managed to pull it out without anyone noticing. She adjusted her bouquet and continued. _Almost there, Ginny_… she told herself.

Once they made it to the altar, Arthur smiled at Ginny reassuringly then went to take his seat next to Molly. Ginny stood at the altar and winked at Harry. He grinned back at her.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join this Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley in Holy Matrimony..." The priest's voice faded as Harry gazed at Ginny. She looked beautiful. The sunlight was bouncing off her hair in such a way that it created a sort of glow about her, making Ginny look like an angel. Harry's eyes traveled down to her dress, which glittered in the sunlight, and then back up to Ginny's face. She was staring at him, too.

"...Do you, Harry, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do." Harry smiled at Ginny.

"Do you, Ginny, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do." Ginny smiled back.

Harry took one of the rings from Teddy and slid it onto Ginny's finger, and Ginny slid the second ring onto Harry's finger.

"Would you just kiss already so that we can leave! I'm over a hundred years old!" Aunt Muriel shouted, standing up. Molly scrambled to pull Muriel back down into her chair.

"You may now kiss the bride," the priest announced, winking at Aunt Muriel. Ginny reached up as Harry leaned down, and they met in the middle amidst cheers and applause from their guests.

"Eww!" Teddy said.

"I think it's _wonderful_," Vic declared, smiling at Teddy.

* * *

"Time for some inappropriate wedding reception jokes!" George said, tapping a spoon against his glass to get the attention of the crowd. Ginny and Harry groaned inwardly.

"So, everyone knows what happens during the honeymoon, am I right?" Ginny and Harry both blushed.

"Well, let's just hope they put up a "Do Not Disturb" sign, otherwise we might witness something that we won't ever be able to unsee. Just a word of warning."

"_Silencio_!" Molly cried, effectively shutting up George.

"George! I swear, I'll curse you into oblivion!" Ginny brandished her wand threateningly. George, with a look of extreme fear on his face, leaped off the table and ran towards the Burrow, the entire bridal party in close pursuit.

Luna was running the fastest, and she pounced on George and tackled him to the ground, shouting, "YOU TAKE THAT BACK OR I'LL SET NARGLES ON YOU!" Ginny and Hermione exchanged surprised glances while Angelina and Fleur snickered behind their hands.

Angelina helped George up and they all walked back to the tent, where everyone was either politely chuckling behind their hands, or, in Ron's case, guffawing loudly.

After the commotion died down slightly, Ron stood up. "Since I'm best man, I'm supposed to give a speech. But as you all know, I'm not very good with speeches…"

"Or at anything," Ginny whispered to Angelina. Angelina laughed into her drink but managed to turn it into a cough (sort of).

"So I'll keep it as brief and as un-awkward as possible. I know that I was very overprotective of Ginny in the past, and unapproving of Ginny's _many_ past boyfriends, but I know that Harry will protect Ginny, keep her safe, and never harm her. He's a great man, and I'm glad Ginny has someone like him." He sat down quickly.

"Wow, Ron, I never realized how much Harry meant to you," Hermione said icily. "Maybe you should marry _him_."

Seeing Ron's expression, Hermione burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding, Ron! Calm down." Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hermione, dear, why don't you give your speech?" Molly suggested, smiling hopefully. Hermione stood up, smoothing down her dress nervously.

"So, as you all know, during what should have been my seventh year of Hogwarts, I was off fighting Voldemort alongside Harry and Ron," she started, glancing at the two. They smiled, embarrassed.

"NO DUH!" shouted Aunt Muriel.

Hermione plowed forward. "However, I had one other best friend for five out of the six years I _was_ at Hogwarts, and her name is Ginny Weas- Ginny Potter," Hermione corrected herself, smiling. Molly teared up at the little slip-up, as did many of the women in the audience. Harry and Ginny smiled at each other.

"I didn't have many good friends at Hogwarts, or at my old Muggle school- I was always the know-it-all with the bushy hair and big teeth, my nose always stuck in a book. None of the girls wanted to be my friend, really. In fact, I still wonder how I managed to become friends with these two," Hermione admitted, laughing slightly.

"Ginny was the first girl to come up to me, to say 'hi,' to let me in. And I will never be able to repay her for that." Now Ginny was crying, too. "Only having two friends who are boys can drive a girl crazy." Everyone laughed. "Anyway, thank you, Ginny, for befriending the obnoxious know-it-all when there were so many other worthy candidates to be your best friend. And thank you for everything else that you've done for me."

Hermione sat down, sniffling, and Ginny reached over, hugging Hermione with all her might.

* * *

Harry sat down at a table, all danced out. He watched as Ginny, Hermione, and Luna tried to do some Muggle children's dance and failed miserably, laughing the whole time. He chuckled.

He felt so happy. He was married to the love of his life, and he just felt like there was a warm glow inside of him that couldn't be extinguished. They had fought for this. And now they had it. A few guests had already left, but the Weasley family was still celebrating. They deserved happiness, after the war, after everything they had fought for-

"Hi, Harry," someone said. Harry turned around. It was Dudley. He was standing next to a woman with long brown hair.

"Hey, Dudley!" Harry stood up and shook his cousin's hand. They hadn't seen each other in years. Dudley had lost much of his childhood chubbiness and girth.

"This- this is my wife, Opal," Dudley said awkwardly.

Opal smiled. "Hi, Harry. I know this gets old, but I can't believe I'm meeting the Chosen One."

Harry blinked. "You're a witch?"

"Yeah, I was in Hufflepuff, a year above you."

"Oh… well, I can probably get you an autograph. For family." He winked. "So, what've you been up to lately, Dudley?"

"I work in America, now. I'm a businessman. We travelled over here for the wedding."

Harry was shocked but touched. "Wow… thank you."

"Well, we had better be going, our flight is leaving soon, and we need to get to the airport," Opal said as she hugged Harry. "Apparating doesn't agree with Dudley's stomach," she said, anticipating his inquiry as to why they were taking a plane.

Dudley shook Harry's hand once again. "Congrats on the wedding. Write me soon, will you?"

"Sure. See you, Dudley." Dudley nodded and left the garden, hand in hand with Opal.

Harry sat back down, marvelling at Dudley's transformation. He had really came far, after all those years…

Something flashed in the corner of his eye. Someone was standing behind a tree and watching the wedding.

Not wanting to disrupt the festivities, Harry got up from the table surreptitiously and made his way towards the back of the tent. He pushed open the flap of white canvas that was the opening and watched the tree. Everything was still around it. He crept around it and didn't find anyone hiding there.

I must have just imagined it. _I probably had too much Firewhiskey._ He stood there for another moment and then decided nothing was wrong. Turning back, he took one step before something caught his eye once again. He whipped his head around and saw a piece of paper on the ground, near a large tree root.

He stooped and picked it up, smoothing it out. He pulled out his wand. "_Lumos_!" The tip of his wand ignited and cast light on the paper.

_I'm sorry. For everything._

_~Petunia_

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks to the reviewers, followers, and favorites of last chapter.**

**How did you like the wedding? The four part event in general? Please review! They're very helpful ;)**


	11. Babies, Names, and Everything in Between

**Author's Note: Hey guys, here's the next one-shot! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. **

* * *

**Babies, Names, and Everything in Between**

"Wheelchair! I need a wheelchair!" Bill shouted frantically as he helped his wife out of the car. He looked around the parking lot of the hospital to see if any nurses were coming out.

Ginny got out of the car. "Get inside! There aren't any wheelchairs out here!"

"Why'd you have to come, anyway?"

"Because I knew you would be an idiot and lose your head!"

"So you decided to scream at me instead?"

"Yes, you bloody idiot! Keep up!"

"Oh, I'm the idiot now-"

"BILL! I AM IN LABOR 'ERE! WOOD YOU STOP ARGUING WITH YOUR SISTER AND 'ELP ME?" Fleur yelled.

"Oh! Right, sorry!" Bill levitated Fleur into St. Mungo's, with Ginny following close behind, The three entered the hospital lobby and everyone looked up at the floating pregnant woman in the air. The nurse at the front desk looked up and, instantaneously reading the situation, paged for a doctor and three more nurses. He cast Sonorous on himself and said, "WE'VE GOT A PREGNANT LADY BEING LEVITATED BY HER HUSBAND. I NEED DOCTOR GOLLIWHISKERS AND THREE NURSES, STAT."

Casting Quietus on himself, the nurse asked Bill "What's your name, sir?".

"Bill! Bill Weasley!" Bill said.

"Alright, Bill, just hold tight for a while, the doctor will be here any moment-" The doctor and nurses burst through the door with a gurney in tow.

"Where is she? Get her on here now!" The doctor ordered, and Bill and the nurses hurried to place Fleur gently on the gurney, Ginny fluttering around and yelling, "I'm the godmother! Out of my way!"

"Bill, the baby is coming!" Fleur reminded him.

"THE BABY'S COMING!" Bill yelled, and everyone rushed to get Fleur into a delivery room.

* * *

_"Fleur, who was that in the Floo?" Bill asked as he walked into the kitchen._

_"Oh, zat was my maman. She was reminding me of 'er old superstitions zat say eet ees bad luck to find out zee gender of zee baby before eet ees born in the hospital. She said it ees only fine if a mother tells."_

_"Oh, right, those old tales. Did she use an old wives' tale to predict the gender of the baby again, like she did with Vic and Dom?" Bill joked._

_"She did, actually! She said eet would be anozer girl!" Fleur said excitedly. Bill looked giddy at the prospect of another daughter and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet._

* * *

"A BOY?" Fleur screeched as the doctor placed the wailing baby in her arms.

"Er- is there a problem, m'am?" The doctor asked nervously.

"No- no problem at all, Doctor..." Fleur squinted to see if she was reading the nametag correctly. "Doctor...Golliwhiskers?"

"Yes, that's my name, unfortunately..." The doctor trailed off, seemingly embarrassed by his odd last name.

"Eet ees just zat my maman told us zat eet vould be another girl," Fleur explained.

"Ah, I see. Is your mother a doctor?"

"Non, she ees not."

"Alright, well then, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, Doctor, but thank you," replied Bill. The doctor left Fleur and Bill with their baby boy.

"What do we do? We were going to name zee girl Laci!" Fleur, in distress, spoke a little too loud, accidentally waking up the baby, who had fallen asleep earlier. "Oh! Shh, shh, mon cheri. Everything will be okay." Fleur reassured him, gently rocking him from side to side.

Bill sat up suddenly. "Louis!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Confused, Fleur looked at Bill. Bill quickly explained, "His name! I've alway liked the name Louis, and it's French, goes with our theme, and it fits him so well, and-,"

"Eet ees perfect."

Bill and Fleur smiled down at their baby boy, Louis.

Ginny rushed into the hospital room, startling the (formerly) peaceful family.

"Where is she? What's her name? Can I see her?" Ginny ran over to the couple. "Mum and dad are going to be in here in a few minutes. Brace yourselves."

"It's a boy, Gin. His name is Louis."

"Oh, he's beautiful. I love his eyes! They're so blue."

"Vould you like to 'old 'im, Ginny?" Fleur held Louis out.

"Oh, yes!" Ginny gently took Louis from Fleur, rocking him and giving him her finger to play with. Louis grabbed her finger and held on to it, and Ginny gasped with excitement. She looked up at Bill and Fleur, her eyes shining.

"He's holding my finger!" She whispered excitedly, looking back down at Louis.

Bill and Fleur looked at each other and smiled.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks to Lupin and ZevieANDHinnyFan for their reviews! **


	12. Pick Me Up When I've Fallen Down

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. **

* * *

**Pick Me Up When I've Fallen Down**

"Dom? Time for lunch!" Charlie called out from the kitchen. He was babysitting Dominique while Bill, Fleur, Victoire, and Louis were at Victoire's ballet recital. Dominique had run up a high fever, so her parents had left her with her Uncle Charlie while they all went to the recital.

"Dom? Are you coming?" Charlie, getting a little worried, climbed up the stairs to look for Dominique. He stopped at the third door. Was that..._crying_? Was Dom crying? Why?

"Can I come in, Dom?" Charlie asked, slowly opening the door. Dominique saw him and quickly wiped her face, trying to get rid of the tears. But it was too late, for Charlie had already seen her crying.

"Why are you crying?" Charlie asked gently. He went to sit next to Dominique.

"Maman and Daddy don't love me!" Dominique burst out, her tears appearing once more. Charlie was absolutely bewildered. Of course Fleur and Bill loved their daughter! Their children were the most important things in their lives.

"Dominqiue, what do you mean? Of course your parents love you. Why would you say that?"

Dominique sniffled. "Vic is so pretty and smart. Maman and Vic always braid their pretty blond hair together. And Louis is the baby of the family, and he's the only boy! Daddy is always playing with Louis. Maman and Daddy always pay attention to Vic because she's the oldest and she's so smart and pretty, and they pay attention to Louis because he's the baby and he's Daddy's little boy. I'm not any of those things. No one loves me. They don't need me." It seemed like once she had started talking, Dominique found the courage to finish.

"Can I tell you a story?" Charlie asked. When she nodded, he put his arm around her and began.

"Well, when Uncle Percy was born, I was 4 years old, and your father was 6. One night, I was sobbing because I felt the same way you do. I thought Mum and Dad would pay attention to Bill because he was the oldest, and they would take care of your Uncle Percy because he was a baby. I guess your daddy was on his way downstairs, and he must have heard crying coming from my room.

"He came in and found me crying on my bed. He calmed me down, and once I could talk, he asked me what was wrong. I said that I was crying because I felt like Grandma Molly and Granddad Arthur wouldn't pay attention to me anymore because of the new baby.

"He helped me realise that, while I was the middle child, I was like the glue that kept the family together. He told me that he couldn't imagine a family without me, and by the end I was feeling a lot better.

"So what I'm trying to say is, I think you should talk to Vic. Your parents and I, we can only do so much. Sometimes talking to your siblings helps a lot."

"Thank you, Uncle Charlie."

"You're welcome. Now, how about some lunch?"

"Hey, Vic? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Dominique pushed open the door to Victoire's room, where she saw Victoire lying on her bed, reading a book.

"Sure, Dom. What's up?" Victoire sat up and marked her page, putting her book away.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm not needed in this family. You and Maman are both so pretty, and you two braid each other's hair and you're the oldest and everyone pays attention to you because of that. And Louis is the baby of the family, so everyone takes care of him, and he's also the only boy, and he's Daddy's little boy, so everyone pays attention to _him_ because of that. I'm not really any of those things."

"What's your point?" Victoire asked, slightly worried.

"I'm just the middle child. No one expects anything from me, sometimes they even forget I'm here! Remember last Christmas, when great-aunt Muriel got everyone a gift but me? And when Grandma Molly forgot a place card for me at the last family Thanksgiving dinner? She remembered everyone else but me, Vic! Everyone but me!" Dominique was in tears at this point, and Victoire held Dom in her arms and soothed her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear and rubbing her back. Dominique slowly calmed down and wiped her tears from her face.

"Dominique Weasley. Look at me. You are beautiful, and I love you. Everyone in this family loves you, and none of us would ever hurt you intentionally. I love having you as a little sister and I love being your big sister. You are important to everyone in this family, and I want you to understand that, okay? Whenever Louis and I fight, who breaks it up? You do.

"Louis, you, and I, we're like a sandwich. Louis and I are the bread, and you're the interesting part in the middle that makes each sandwich different from the next. I can't imagine this family without you, Dom; I can't imagine a life without you."

Victoire hugged Dominique and kissed her on the cheek. Dominique, reassured by her sister's speech, hugged her sister back.

"Thank you, Vic."

Victoire smiled at her little sister. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

**Please review. :)  
**


	13. Menagerie

**Author's Note: Alright, long Author's Note today, but please read to the end of it because it has an important announcement.**

**First, we're starting a new two-part event! See if you can figure out what it is by the end. ;)**

**Also, thanks to those followers, faves, and reviews of last chapter. **

**On an unrelated note, we (my friend and I) have planned 45 one-shots for this series. But we had the idea that we should ask the readership for what they want to see in these one-shots. So we have left four spots open. What we want to know from all of you is what character from the series of HP do you want to make a return in these one-shots? (A character who has not yet appeared in this story, for example, Professor Flitwick). Please leave a review with your character choice, and if it fits the type of story we want to tell, we will craft an idea and eventually a one-shot including the character you wanted. So, please review!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. **

* * *

**Menagerie**

Ron kneeled in a puddle of wine, his arm outstretched. His hair was covered in mashed potatoes and gravy, while his arm was drenched in butterbeer. His shirt and pants were scorched. Hermione gazed down at him fondly, her eyes crinkling around the edges as she tried to suppress the laughter that was bubbling up at the sight in front of her.

Ron grew distressed. _This is not how I wanted this to go!_

* * *

**Six Hours Earlier**

"Gotta buy potatoes and carrots and bread and meat and butter and that Muggle drink that Hermione likes..." Ron muttered to himself as he put on his coat.

"Ron? Are you talking to the television again?" Hermione called from their room.

"I didn't know there weren't actual people inside it!" Ron said indignantly. "You talk to the little people in the television _one time_ and suddenly that's all anyone remembers..." Ron turned, about to Apparate when he suddenly remembered that this was supposed to be a secret. "Hermione! Didn't you say earlier that you were going shopping with Ginny this afternoon?"

"Yes, I'm just about to leave," she answered, coming out of their room. "Where are you off to?"

Ron, panicking, burst out, "George wanted something!" and Apparated out of the room before Hermione had time to blink.

* * *

"Ron? What're you doing here? Did Hermione finally kick you out?" George grinned as Ron appeared in his living room.

"I'm going to do it. Today. This afternoon...oh Merlin, what was I thinking, this afternoon? I can't possibly do it so soon, what if she doesn't love me and I mess everything up and-"

"RON! Calm yourself! First off, if Hermione was going to leave you, she would have done it ages ago. Secondly, I'm surprised she's even stuck around this long. Thirdly, WILL YOU SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP! YOU'RE HURTING MY EAR!" George shouted.

"I need help! I'm making a home-cooked meal for Hermione and then I'm going ask her. Will you come shopping with me?" Ron asked, swallowing his pride.

"Sure, Ickle Ronniekins," George smirked. Ron rolled his eyes and started muttering under his breath.

"Oi! Mum would wash your mouth out with soap if she heard you!"

* * *

"What is this place? A Muggle store?" George asked incredulously.

"I don't know… it's where Hermione comes to get food!" Ron said, looking a bit frightened by the shopping trolley. "How does this thing even work?" He muttered to himself, then looked around to see an old lady pushing hers. "All right, let's try this...push, slide, push, slide, push, slide, push-" The trolley ran into a stack of cans and they all tumbled down, causing the shoppers in their vicinity to turn around and glare at the two boys. Ron and George looked around fearfully, then grabbed the trolley and ran to the vegetables.

"So...what do you need?" George asked, picking up a tomato and sniffing it.

Ron checked his list. "Er...potatoes, meat, carrots, bread, butter, and some Muggle drink that Hermione likes called vine, I think..." He trailed off, his eyes landing on a sack of potatoes. "One down, five to go!"

* * *

Ron ran around, an apron that read 'Mommy's Little Chef!' tied around his neck. Sweat was dripping down his face and neck as he scurried about, mixing and stirring and baking all at the same time. Finally, everything was done, and he breathed deeply. Surprisingly, everything had turned out well, but there was something missing...

The table! He'd forgotten to set it! Ron ran around like a madman (which he probably was at this point) and collected a dark red tablecloth, candlesticks, plates, bowls, and glasses. He set everything on the table and then ran to get the wine bottle that he'd purchased. It had taken him twenty minutes just to find someone who knew what he was talking about, and then they'd explained to him that he would have to go to a "likor" store, whatever that was. So he and George had walked around for a good two hours, looking for the bloody wine.

"Ron!" Hermione called. "I'm home!"

"Damn it!" he whispered under his breath. He'd been hoping she'd spend a little more time in the bookstore. He hadn't gotten the food onto the table yet!

Ron scampered back into the kitchen and grabbed the pot of stew, the platter of mashed potatoes, and the saucer of gravy. He'd need to make a second trip, but he could hear Hermione approaching.

"Of course!" He was so stupid! "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" His mind was thrown back to his first impression of Hermione in their first year, when she'd been an obnoxious know-it-all and had corrected his pronunciation. He waved his wand and all of the food levitated in front of him. He quietly made his way out of the kitchen.

Ron carefully made his way into the dining room, and went around to the other side. Suddenly, his foot met something very slippery.

"Ahhhh!" He fell to the floor, the dishes of food crashing down next to him.

"No!" he groaned. Hermione came running in.

"Ron! Are you alri-" she stopped, her mouth open in shock. "_Ronald_!"

"Erm. Hi, 'Mione?" Ron tried sheepishly.

"Ron! What happened?" Hermione asked, worried and a bit curious.

"I, er-, I wanted to make you a special dinner," he replied.

"Oh, Ron, that's so sweet!" Hermione gushed.

"But, erm, I need some help since I've spilled all this," Ron said, waving his arm about. Hermione smiled and pulled him up, and then they got to cooking.

* * *

"So, Ron, why did you-we cook all this?" Hermione asked incredulously, as the two sat down to eat.

Ron flushed to the tips of his ears and his eyes widened. It's now or never, he thought to himself, and then gathered up all his Gryffindor courage and started to say his pre-planned speech. "Hermione, I know we've been through a lot, and I hope-" He was cut off by a strange noise from Hermione.

Her eyes were watering and her face was red, and her hands were around her throat. Ron recognized it as a sign she'd taught him once, and he racked his brain to try and remember it. _The sign for choking! She's choking!_ he thought, and clambered over the table, upsetting everything on it. Stew flew across the room, bread and potatoes were airborne, and a small fire started from where the candle touched the tablecloth, but Ron was too focused on Hermione to notice.

"Hermione! Are you choking?" Ron asked stupidly. Hermione glared at him and then gestured to her throat. "Alright, you taught me the _Hellmilk_ Maneuver for whenever someone is choking..." Ron trailed off as he brought Hermione to a standing position. "Arms on the stomach...in and up...in and up...in and up...in and-" Ron's mutterings were cut off as a small ring flew out of Hermione's mouth and into her half-empty glass of wine.

"Water! I need water!" Hermione rasped out, her eyes still watering and she took in big gulps of air. Ron hurried to get water and, in his hurry, spilled it all over Hermione. Smiling sheepishly, he rushed back for more. Hermione took the glass from him and downed it all in one gulp. She turned to look at Ron, who had by now picked the ring out of the wine. _How in all of Merlin did this get into the stew? It was in my pocket the entire time!_ Ron wondered.

"Ron? Would you mind explaining this- any of this?" Hermione asked. Ron turned to look at her and kneeled in front of her. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, and tears came to her eyes, but this time _not_ from a blockage in her airway. Looking into her eyes, Ron forgot his pre-written speech and let his mouth run free.

"Hermione, I wanted to make you a special dinner and then propose to you and I had a speech all written out and it was wonderful and I used big words like 'endear' and 'cloying' and 'menagerie' but then this happened and I know I can never do anything right but I'd hoped for once that I could do _this_ correctly but apparently I'm meant to always do things wrong, as Ginny says, and speaking of Ginny, it was her that suggested I cook for you, but now I'm realizing that you probably wanted something more creative, and an idea that came from me, since I'm the one proposing, not my sister, I mean she's not the one proposing to you, she's married to Harry… wouldn't it be weird if she was proposing to you?

"But anyway, Hermione, will you please marry me?"

Ron kneeled in a puddle of wine, his arm outstretched. His hair was covered in mashed potatoes and gravy, while his arm was drenched in butterbeer. His shirt and pants were scorched. Hermione gazed down at him fondly, her eyes crinkling around the edges as she tried to suppress the laughter that was bubbling up at the sight in front of her. Ron grew distressed as it had been quite a while since he'd popped the question.

Hermione finally spoke up. "Do you even know what 'menagerie' means?"


	14. Grappling Hooks and Wedding Fairies

**Author's Note: **

**Welcome to part two of Ron and Hermione's wedding!**

**By the way, Teddy's grappling hook was inspired by Mabel's grappling hook in Gravity Falls. That is one of the most hilarious shows I've ever seen. **

** We (my friend and I) have planned 45 one-shots for this series. But we had the idea that we should ask the readership for what they want to see in these one-shots. So we have left four spots open. What we want to know from all of you is what character from the series of HP do you want to make a return in these one-shots? (A character who has not yet appeared in this story, for example, Professor Flitwick). Please leave a review with your character choice, and if it fits the type of story we want to tell, we will craft an idea and eventually a one-shot including the character you wanted. So, please review!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. I also don't own Gravity Falls, rights go to Disney.  
**

* * *

**Grappling Hooks and Wedding Fairies**

"Teddy, why are you holding a grappling hook?" Ginny asked.

"What's that?" Teddy asked, blinking his large, green eyes up at her. He'd changed them when he realized that Harry's eyes were green.

"It's the thing you're holding."

"Oh...GRAPPLING HOOK!" Teddy screamed, running around and pulling the trigger. Ginny watched helplessly as he hit George in the shoulder, broke a vase, and knocked a lamp off the table.

"Uncle Ron gave it to me!" Teddy said, running upstairs. A loud thump told Ginny that he broke something else, and she went upstairs exasperatedly.

* * *

"Your dress looks perfect, Hermione," her mother, Jean, said, smiling. She wiped away a proud tear. "Let's get your father and head downstairs. Everyone is waiting."

Hermione's father, Philip, walked in and took Hermione's hand. "Let's go, sweetheart." It looked like his face was permanently stuck in 'smile mode'. The three made their way down the stairs.

Teddy ran in. "GRAPPLING HOOOOOOOOOOOK!" He screamed, pulling the trigger. The heavy, metal hook hit Percy on the head.

"Ow!"

"GRAPPLING HOOOOK!" Teddy ran off to go concuss someone else.

"Harry should watch him more carefully," Percy said reproachfully, rubbing his head.

* * *

"Hermione, dear, where's your bow? The one that's supposed to go in your hair? Oh dear, I can't find it! This is a sign! Everything is going to go wrong and the wedding will be terrible and-"

Hermione cut in. "Molly, it's right here, in my hair," she said gently. "Maybe you should go sit down and-"

Molly cut Hermione off this time. "Oh no, I can't do that! It's my son's wedding! I need to go check on the food and the tables and- the band! They weren't here last time I checked, I'd better go yell at them a bit if they've arrived..." she trailed off, rushing outside. Hermione shook her head fondly, feeling a bit scared for the tardy band.

* * *

"...Do you, Ronald, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" The priest spoke.

"I do." Ron smiled at Hermione.

"Do you, Hermione, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do." Hermione smiled back.

Ron took one of the rings and slid it onto Hermione's finger, and Hermione slid the second ring onto Ron's finger.

"You may now kiss the bride," the priest announced. Ron and Hermione kissed amidst cheers and applause from their guests. All of the women sighed and George almost wolf-whistled, but Angelina smacked him.

"Teddy! Put the grappling hook away, please!" Harry chastised his godson.

"No! GRAPPLING HOOK!" Teddy screamed, pulling the trigger. The metal hook sped towards the altar in slow motion and everyone held their breath. No one moved as the hook crashed into Ron's head.

"Ron!" Hermione squealed. He toppled off the altar. He knocked over the priest's stand and the backboard of the altar on his way down, both of which fell on top of him. A pot of flowers on the side collapsed underneath Ron, covering him in dirt.

No one moved. Then, from the front row, came a small chuckle, which was quickly suppressed. But everyone's eyes immediately went to the source of the noise, who was covering her mouth quickly, looking scandalized. It was Molly.

"Ron!" Hermione cried again, and everyone was brought to their senses. Arthur quickly levitated the debris off of his youngest son, and Hermione rushed to his side.

"Ron? Are you alright?"

"He's unconscious!" Molly exclaimed. "Get him over to St. Mungo's! Hurry!" she screeched, and everyone jumped into action.

* * *

"Hit in the head with a grappling hook at the altar...first time I've ever heard _that_ one before..." the Healer muttered to himself as he inspected Ron's head. "And I've been a Healer for over fifty years..."

"Yes, our family is quite...interesting," Arthur said, trying to find the correct word.

"Yes, yes, interesting family, but how's Ron? Will he be fine?" Molly asked worriedly. Hermione peered over Molly's shoulder nervously, trying to gauge the damage that had been done to Ron's head.

"Oh, he'll be perfectly fine. He'll need to stay here the night so that we can run a couple of tests just to make sure, but I think he was already passed out by the time the hook hit him. It must have been all the excitement, eh?" The elderly man asked, winking at Hermione. Hermione blushed furiously and ducked back down behind Molly.

The Healer chuckled and walked off before stopping and turning around. "Are you, by any chance, the couple who came in because someone choked on the engagement ring?"

Hermione blushed again, which was all the conformation the Healer needed.

"Merlin, Hermione, you two are a dangerous couple," Harry chimed in. Hermione swatted at him.

"HARRY!" Ginny yelled suddenly. Her arm flew out and slapped Harry right in the stomach and he keeled over, moaning in pain. Hermione gave him a sarcastic look, as if to say, "Really? Ron and I are the dangerous ones?"

"WHY AM I PEEING?" Ginny cried, looking down in confusion. "And my stomach hurts!"

"Ginny…" Hermione said, trailing off in thought. It couldn't be…

"AHH! MY WATER BROKE! IT'S NOT PEE! HARRY! TAKE ME TO THE LOBBY AND GET A DOCTOR!"

Harry sat on the floor, still moaning and clutching his stomach.

"GET UP!" Ginny screamed. "YOU'RE NOT GIVING BIRTH, YOU WIMP! GET UP OR I'LL SLAP YOU, BOI!"

"Boi? With an I?" Harry looked up.

"Yes, with an 'I'!"

Harry stared stupidly.

"GO!"

* * *

"His name is James Sirius Potter," Ginny said, smiling down at her sleeping son.

"Congratulations, Ginny, Harry!" Hermione said. She felt so happy to see her best friends finally have the baby they'd always wanted.

"LET ME SEE HIM!" Molly screeched, stampeding George on her way into the room.

Hermione laughed and left the room. It would soon get very crowded.

* * *

"'Mione?" Ron croaked, coming out of his grappling-hook-induced haze. "What happened?"

"Teddy gave you a concussion with his grappling hook," Hermione replied reproachfully.

"Where am I? Paris?"

"Um, no, we're in St. Mungo's."

"If Harry and Ginny get married, can we call them Hinny?"

"Uh, they're already married… but that _is _a good name for them..."

"Did we get married?" Ron asked.

"Yes, Ronald, I'm now Mrs. Weasley. I changed it on the insurance papers as well, because I'm thinking we'll end up in here a lot more. First me choking on the ring, now you falling off the altar."

"Now that we're married, we can have the fairies come keep us safe."

Hermione giggled. "Just rest, alright? Your mum will come by with food later."

"Yum, food!" Ron immediately started snoring.

* * *

**By the way, I've been having PM trouble so I won't be able to reply to reviews for a while, but I still read them, and if you have a question I will reply in the author's notes. **

**But as always, please review!**


	15. Reborn

**Author's Note: **

**We've gotten two requests from guests, one for Minerva McGonagall and one for a Lily/Lorcan romance- thanks for your ideas, and we'll be using them!**

**We (my friend and I) have planned 45 one-shots for this series. But we had the idea that we should ask the readership for what they want to see in these one-shots. So we have left two spots open. What we want to know from all of you is what character from the series of HP do you want to make a return in these one-shots? (A character who has not yet appeared in this story, for example, Professor Flitwick). Please leave a review with your character choice, and if it fits the type of story we want to tell, we will craft an idea and eventually a one-shot including the character you wanted. So, please review!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. **

* * *

**Reborn**

"Night, Angelina," George said, turning off the lamp.

"Hey, George?" The eight-months-pregnant Angelina spoke after about half an hour. She'd been thinking…

"Have you thought about baby names?" she asked, turning to look at her husband. He didn't respond at first. "George. Are you awake?"

"Don't give any candy to the munchkins, they're rabid!" he replied, still asleep.

"George, wake up!" She poked him in the back.

"Ow! What happened? Are you in labor?" he asked in a rush. He made to get up off the bed, grabbing his cloak.

"No! I just want to discuss baby names!" she said. He relaxed and dropped his cloak.

"Oh, okay. I just want to rule out George Junior. That would be awful."

Angelina chuckled. "Yeah, I wouldn't want our child to suffer like that. But now that we're close to his birth, I was thinking…"

"Hey, you don't like my name?" George interrupted indignantly. Angelina narrowed her eyes at him. "Alright, alright, what names did you have in mind?" George asked, holding his hands up in defense.

"Well…" she hesitated now. She knew how sensitive George could be about the subject, and even though it had been almost seven years, she didn't know how he would react.

"I mean, I obviously would understand if you didn't want this name, and I know how much he meant to you, but I think you would like the name if you just gave it a chance-"

"Angelina, just tell me. Don't worry," he said reassuring his wife of two years. He loved her more than anything- she was the reason he came back, those long six months after Fred. When he'd run away from the family and stayed in France, she was the only one who got through to him, and she alone had convinced him to come back, and made him whole again, or as whole as he could be.

_"Do you want me to go in first, George?" Angelina asked as they stood outside the Burrow. He nodded in response. He hadn't seen his family since May 20th. The pain of losing Fred had been too much, and the Burrow reminded him of it every day. He had to leave. He went to France for six months, but Angelina convinced him to come back._

_Her arguments were persuasive. She told him how he would never heal if he locked himself away somewhere. She told him how much the family missed him. She told him how Fred's loss affected everyone, and how the family needed to stay together. He'd finally agreed when she used her most important argument._

_"Fred would be disappointed in how you're acting. He wouldn't want you to shut yourself away." So George came back, thanks to Angelina, the love of his life._

"Well, I was thinking, we could… name the baby Fred."

Against his wishes, tears sprung to George's eyes. He couldn't believe what she was saying. Name the baby after Fred? His brother?

Alarmed, Angelina quickly spoke. "Never mind, I was wrong, we shouldn't, I just thought it would be honoring your brother. He was my friend in Hogwarts as well, and I thought we could name the baby Fred for him, but I understand that you don't want to-" George cut her off with a kiss.

"I love the name, Angelina. Thank you." He put his face near Angelina's stomach and whispered, "Hi, Fred," tears glistening in his eyes again. "You're going to be named after my brother, who died in the war. I hope you're going to be like him. He was a great prankster, like me. I remember one time, we attacked this evil Professor, Umbridge, with fireworks." George chuckled. The baby kicked at George's voice.

"Angelina, he kicked!" George said excitedly. Angelina smiled.

"I love you both very much. George and _Fred_."

* * *

**Please review for the last two spots!  
**


	16. Baby Jamie (Part 1)

**Author's Note: Thanks for all of those reviews last week! **

**We've gotten 3 requests from guests, one for Minerva McGonagall, one for a Lily/Lorcan romance, and one for a return of the Malfoy's- thanks for your ideas, and we'll be using them!**

**We (my friend and I) have planned 50 (we added five more ;) Just because) one-shots for this series. But we had the idea that we should ask the readership for what they want to see in these one-shots. So we have left just one spot open. What we want to know from all of you is what character from the series of HP do you want to make a return in these one-shots? (A character who has not yet appeared in this story, for example, Professor Flitwick). Please leave a review with your character choice. So, please review!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. **

* * *

**Baby Jamie (Part 1) **

"Thanks for taking James, Ron, Hermione. We needed a day off," Harry said wearily.

"No, Harry, we told you, we can watch James whenever you need us to. I know, between your Auror work and Ginny's Ministry job, it's a bit hard at first. Besides, we love to spend time with our little nephew, right, Jamie?" Hermione said. James gurgled happily, pawing at her hair. "It's also good practice for the new baby." She patted her pregnant stomach.

"Have fun, you two." Hermione smiled.

Ginny was watching her baby. She'd been having second thoughts about leaving him. She'd never been apart from James for more than a few hours before.

"He'll be fine, Ginny. Trust me. It's just for one night." Hermione all but shoved them out of the door. "Bye!" She shut it behind them, then went and got James's basket. He smiled up at her.

"Uncle Ron will be home from work soon, Jamie." She told the four month old child. He giggled in response. He was a very cheerful baby.

There was a roar of the fireplace and Ron stepped into their living room. "Hey, Hermione. Hi, James." He dropped his bag on the table. "Want me to take his things upstairs, Hermione?"

"Yes, put it in the guest room." She placed James's basket on the table. He blinked at her, then screwed up his face as if to cry. Then he relaxed and smiled once more.

"Ron!" Hermione shouted up the stairs. He came stumping down. She held up James, who smiled widely.

"Nappy change time."

* * *

Hermione warmed up a bottle of milk for James, then set to work on lunch. She knew that James would soon have to be put down to nap, and then they would eat lunch after. She'd tried making a schedule for the overnight waking periods, but it hadn't worked. They were going to just have to wing it, which was something Hermione despised.

Hermione heard a thump from upstairs. _Maybe I shouldn't have left the baby alone with Ron... _No, Ron would be careful. She'd made him sign up for baby care classes, which they had both taken, and he had passed. Well, not _well, _but he hadn't failed. He needed to practice for their new baby, anyhow, and it wasn't like Hermione could watch her husband every minute of every day. She was confident he would be fine.

* * *

Ron carried James up the stairs into the guest room. They were going to convert it into a nursery once they found out the gender of a baby. Luckily, Hermione had already bought a changing table and some supplies for the baby, which they had used for their baby care classes' homework, and their final project where they had to take an enchanted baby doll for a week, which acted and definitely smelled like the real thing.

James giggled happily and poked Ron in the nose.

"Yes, Jamie, my nose is very big. But let's not pull on it, okay?" He gently moved James's small hands away from it, and gave him a stuffed dragon toy. The boy shrieked with joy and promptly put the dragon in his mouth, drooling all over it.

Ron lay James on the changing table. "Right, now how did they do this again?" The classes were so long ago, and he had cheated on most of the assignments. Normally, Ron would have left nappy changing to Hermione until he could actually pass the baby care classes without cheating. But he knew since she was pregnant, he would have to listen to her commands or face the wrath of Hurricane Hermione. Ron grabbed a nappy and some wipes from the drawer.

Ron slid a clean nappy under James and then found the opening of the dirty diaper and pulled it off of the baby. "Ugh, James, what do they feed you?"

James gurgled happily, chewing on the dragon before throwing it into Ron's face. It fell to the floor.

"Okay, now for the gross part." Ron wiped James's bottom, shuddering all of the way. "Now that you're clean, I can wrap the nappy on you-

"Ahhhh! James! Gross!" Pee hit Ron in the face as he staggered away from the table. His foot slid on the stuffed dragon and he fell. He could hear James giggling. He seemed to like Ron falling. Ron got up wearily and grabbed a napkin off of the table and wiped the pee off of his face.

Shuddering once more, and staying an arm's length away, Ron quickly replaced the nappy with a clean one and pulled new baby clothes out of the bag Ginny packed. Quickly redressing the baby in a red onesie, Ron placed James in his basket once more and went to the bathroom to wash his face off.

About ten minutes of washing later, Ron brought James back downstairs and placed his basket on the couch. He took James out of the basket and laid him on his stomach on a baby blanket Hermione left on the floor. The baby picked up a toy and started playing.

_Maybe the rest of this babysitting job will be easy, _Ron thought wearily, watching his cute nephew entertain himself.

* * *

"This is really good, Hermione," Ron enthused, shovelling down the food she'd made for lunch. Hermione had taken over, feeding James his bottle then putting him down for his afternoon nap. Things were going well so far, since James had been asleep since "the pee incident".

"So, James peed on you, Ron?" Hermione asked, giggling. "You're supposed to cover him with a cloth so he doesn't do that." Just then, a cry emerged from upstairs. "I'll get him," Hermione said immediately. She didn't think Ron could take another nappy changing session.

* * *

**Author's Note: Tune in next week for part two of "Baby Jamie!"  
**

**There's only one spot left of suggestions left, so please review!**


	17. Baby Jamie (Part 2)

**Author's Note: Thanks to all those who reviewed and those who gave suggestions. The slots are now full. The suggestions we are now using are:  
**

**-Albus and Alice romance from glazedwater**

**-Lily and Lorcan romance from guest (on April 7)**

**-Malfoy's return from guest on (April 11)**

**-McGonagall's return from guest on (March 27)**

**-Neville's return from singallday**

**Thanks again to everyone who submitted ideas. Enjoy Baby Jamie Part 2!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Baby Jamie (Part 2)**

"Shhh, Jamie, go to sleep." Hermione said. They'd fed him dinner and tried to make him lie in the crib, but he was still crying. She looked over at Ron. "Go find his toys from the bag." She gathered James up from his bed and starting singing a lullaby.

Ron went to the bag Ginny had packed and pulled out a stuffed Snitch. When he did, a piece of parchment fell out as well. He walked back over and handed the Snitch to James, who immediately stopped crying, and put the toy in his mouth. Hermione lay him back in his bed and, after a few minutes, the boy fell asleep.

"Goodnight, Jamie," Hermione said, turning on the baby monitor. They went back to their bedroom. Ron turned on the lamp and smoothed out the parchment.

"It's a note from Ginny!" he said. "'_Ron and Hermione, James can never sleep without his stuffed Snitch. Please give it to him and he'll go to sleep just fine_.'"

He looked up at Hermione. "She could've told us that half an hour ago!"

"Shh, you'll wake James. Just go to sleep."

* * *

"James, what's the problem? I changed your nappy, you're not hungry, and even your Quidditch mobile didn't work!" Ron said, trying to calm the wailing child. Ron had hastily turned off the baby monitor and used Muffliato on the door- Hermione needed sleep.

"What? Do you want to play?" Ron asked. He gave James the stuffed dragon, and James threw it back into Ron's face and burst into even louder tears.

"Come on, Jamie!" he started rocking James back and forth like he saw Hermione doing. James stopped crying and whimpered, his bottom lip trembling.

"Ah, is that it?" Ron all but yelled, jubilant. Whoops. James resumed his crying at the loud noise. "Oh, brilliant. I ruined this."

After about ten minutes of rocking James, Ron knew it wouldn't work. He needed something else. _What else was there?_ He'd changed the nappy, tried feeding him a bottle, turned on the Quidditch mobile, gave James his Snitch, and rocked him, and nothing worked.

"Do you want me to read you a book, Jamie?" Ron asked. The wails grew in volume. _Yeah, I wouldn't want one, either…_

"Do you want me to sing, Jamie?" Ron sighed. Putting on his best voice, Ron started singing, "Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop-," like he remembered from the classes. James covered his ears with his small hands and resumed crying. _Wow, I'm that bad?_

Ron spotted the stuffed Snitch in the crib and snatched it up once more. He had no other ideas. Maybe it would work this time. Ron handed the toy to the baby. James stopped crying and held the Snitch tightly.

"Yes!" Ron said. 'I'm the baby expert, and Hermione will be so jealous." He did a little victory dance, still holding James, and the baby burst into shrill tears once more. So much for the expert.

Out of ideas, Ron placed James in his crib and turned to go get Hermione when his foot hit the toy dragon, now discarded on the floor. Of course.

"Hey, Jamie?" he waved the dragon around. James watched, but his cries still continued. Ron dropped it on the ground, then tripped himself over it and landed on the floor. That really hurt.

James giggled.

_Everyone loves seeing me in pain, don't they._ Ron immediately pantomimed falling again, and again, most likely bruising himself, until James's eyes closed and he fell asleep, clutching his Snitch.

"You handled that very well, Ron." Hermione stood in the doorway, yawning.

Ron whipped around. "How long where you standing there?" he asked.

"Long enough to get the Muggle phone my parents bought me and record your singing."

* * *

"Thank you so much for watching James," Harry said, pulling out his wallet.

"No, Harry. You don't need to pay us." Hermione said firmly.

"But-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"Okay."

"Good." Hermione turned around to find James's binky.

Ron retrieved James from upstairs. He was making baby sounds to himself and looked very happy. Ron deposited James onto the table.

"MY BABY!" Ginny shrieked, running towards the basket, knocking Ron into the wall in her rampage towards James.

"Were you good for Auntie Hermione, and bad for Uncle Ron?" James kicked his feet in happiness at the sight of his mother. Smiling at her baby, Ginny added in an undertone, "I got a Muggle phone. Send me that video of Ron singing." Hermione smirked.

After they had left, Ron grabbed Hermione's purse. "Hey!" she shrieked, trying to grab it back. He held it high out of her reach until she stopped.

Ron shuffled through it. "Where's your phone? I need to delete that- Bloody hell!"

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Harry paid us!"

* * *

"Good night, Jamie!" Ginny kissed his forehead as James closed his eyes, sucking on his thumb, stuffed Snitch tucked under one arm.

"Night, James," Harry said. Ginny smiled at James and left the room. Harry followed, but then turned back. He swallowed nervously before speaking.

"I- I just want you to know, Jamie, that your mother and I love you very much. I never got to meet my parents, or really have a childhood, and I want you to know that I'll always be here for you." James held the Snitch tighter.

"You and your mother are my entire world, and I want to make sure you have the thing I never did until now- a loving family." Harry watched his son sleeping peacefully and kissed him on the forehead.

"Good night, James."

* * *

**Author's Note: Please review! And my PM feature is still acting up so I can't reply to reviews :( but rest assured I still read them and take into account everything they say.  
**


	18. No Matter What

**A/N: Hey, guys, here's the next one-shot! Hope you enjoy.**

**Since my PM still is all wonky, I'll reply to a question I got last chapter. **

**Lt. Basil, thanks for your reviews. To answer your question about Ginny being pregnant, Jamie was four months in the last one shot. We have his birthday as May 27, 2005, so this oneshot is sometime in September. Rose was born on January 14, 2006, so Hermione would be 5 months along. Albus was born on July 31, 2006, so if this is in September, Ginny would not yet be pregnant. Hopefully this clears up your question. In case you would like to check this out, in the first oneshot, in its author's note, we have a list of the birthdays we figured out.**

**Also, thanks to GrandmaBeth for her review. And thanks to those who followed and faved. It really means a lot to us.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. And there's a Mean Girls joke in here somewhere, see if you can spot it ;) I don't own that, either.  
**

* * *

**No Matter What**

"How was your day at work, Hermione?" Ron asked. Hermione waddled in, her stomach getting pretty large. She was pregnant with their daughter, Rose.

"It was great! I'm preparing my speech to the Wizengamot next week on House-Elf mandatory minimum wage. We're hoping the law, once passed, will be put in effect gradually, so the minimum will be five galleons a month, then it will increase to six next year, and so on," Hermione said excitedly.

"That's great," Ron said quietly.

"What's wrong?" Hermione said, using her feeling-senses.

"Well… nothing. Let's just eat, alright?" Ron said, taking a large bite of a dinner roll.

"Okay..." Hermione agreed, still a little suspicious. She scooped some pasta onto her plate, eyeing Ron as he shoveled food into his mouth. "How was your day, Ron?" she asked.

"It was great! There were lots of customers today, really busy. And the Puking Pastilles were just flying off the shelves! Everyone seemed to want one today, for some reason. Except one kid, Durmstrang, by the look of him, decided to eat one in the store."

"What happened?"

"Well, let's just say there are quite a few spots for vomit to get stuck in that are really hard to clean with a mop." Ron shuddered slightly.

"Oh… I'm sorry," Hermione said. Vomit was really disgusting.

"Yeah, but I did a quick Scourgify when George wasn't looking, so it wasn't too bad."

"Why'd he make you clean the Muggle way?" Hermione asked.

"Said it gave a "deeper clean" to the shop or something," Ron rolled his eyes.

"It's better than all of the paperwork at the Auror office, though, right?" Hermione said bracingly. Hermione had been quite glad when Ron retired from the Auror office and started work with George. The Auror job was quite dangerous, to be frank.

"Yeah, I s'pose... Listen, Hermione, I really wanted to talk to you about something..." Ron trailed off. "I was wondering...if you were going to keep working after you had Rose?" He asked, wincing a bit as if he already knew what Hermione's reaction would be.

Hermione scrutinized him. "Yes, of course, whatever gave you the idea that I wouldn't?"

"I- I just thought that it might be better to have a stay-at-home mum, like I did," Ron defended.

"Yes, and look at how well you turned out," Hermione said sarcastically. Ron's anger flared up.

"Yes, well at least I'm not a know-it-all like you!" He said.

"Oh, very clever, Ron, using an insult from _first year_. Honestly, haven't you grown up?" Hermione sneered.

"I have, you're the one that hasn't, still fighting for ridiculous things like house elf rights! Come on, Hermione, no one _cares_ about those stupid little house elves! Wizards will never give up on their ways of enslaving them! You just keep on defending them like a naive little girl that doesn't know any better." Ron panted, red-faced. It seemed as though he had been wanting to get that off his chest for quite some time.

"You-! I You can insult _me_, but _not_ my work or my values! How dare you! Why do you want me to stop working anyway? Is it because I make you feel _insecure_, Ron? Or, since you apparently want me to be like your mother, should I call you _Ickle Ronniekins_? That's right, you're not the only one who can go back to first year insults!" Hermione knew she was being petty, but she couldn't help it, especially when Ron got all under her skin like he was doing right now.

"My mum doesn't call me that!" Ron slammed his hand against the table. "And I want to be the sole provider for the family. Women shouldn't have to work!"

Hermione's mouth dropped open. Ron must have seen it, because he spoke hastily.

"Let- let's just calm down a little. We don't want to say things we'll regret," he said quickly.

"I guess you don't feel like the _man_ of the house when I make more money than you do! Is that it?" Hermione all but screeched. She could almost feel her hormones fueling all of this rage, but she didn't care. _What on Earth was Ron saying?_

Ron flushed red once more, which all but confirmed her suspicions.

"You chauvinistic pig!" She slapped him as hard as she could across the face. Ron's head snapped to the side, a red handprint starting to appear across his cheek.

Then, suddenly and irrationally, she felt tears spring to her eyes._ Stupid hormones_, she managed to think before sobs overtook her.

"Hermione?" Ron said questioningly.

Hermione took one last look at him, then sprinted out the door into the rainy, grey streets of London.

* * *

"Teddy! Put that down!" Ginny said, running after him and grabbing the grappling hook out of his hands.

"I thought Harry got rid of this," she muttered to herself, remembering the occasion Teddy had gone grappling hook crazy and knocked Ron off of the altar at his wedding. Good times.

The door flew open, and a flash of lightning illuminated the room.

"Ah!" Teddy cried, diving under the cushions of the couch.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked. "What are you doing here?" She went over to Teddy and patted his shoulder comfortingly while she spoke.

"I- I slapped Ron." Hermione announced, wide-eyed. She looked around as though she was not processing what had just happened.

"You _what_?" Ginny asked, trying not to laugh. Teddy sat up and watched Hermione, fear forgotten.

"I slapped Ron! Oh my goodness, I slapped my husband!" Hermione exclaimed, still not able to believe her actions.

"Good job! Wait, sorry…. but I don't see a problem here," Ginny said, a few giggles escaping her.

"Ron and I had a terrible fight. Actually, he started it! Why am I crying when this is his fault? I should go back there and slap him again!" Hermione turned towards the door and made to leave, but Ginny grabbed her shoulders and made her sit down.

"As much as I agree with that, I think you should sit down and cool off first. What exactly was the fight about?" Ginny asked soothingly.

"He- he wanted me to stay at home instead of work after Rose is born," Hermione explained. "We said a lot of things we didn't mean- well, at least I know _I_ didn't mean what I said, but I don't know about Ron- and then I slapped him and called him a chauvinistic pig. And then I came here."

Ginny sat with her mouth hanging open. "You- you called him a chauvinistic pig? Honestly, Hermione, I don't think he even knows what that means."

"You're right! I insulted him and he doesn't even know what I said!" Hermione wailed, dissolving into tears.

"Uh, one second, Hermione. HARRY!" Ginny bellowed up the stairs. "TAKE TEDDY OUT TO THE QUIDDITCH STORE!"

"Yay! Quidditch!" Teddy ran upstairs and Ginny heard the door to Harry's study creak open.

"Now, where was I?" Ginny said. She went over to Hermione. "It's okay. I know Bill and Fleur had the same fight."

"They did? How did Fleur manage to convince Bill?"

"They compromised. She worked on shifts when he was at home, and vice versa. You and Ron could do the same. Or you could work at home most of the time- There's more options other than just quitting, unlike what my chauvinistic brother thinks.

"Me and Harry do the same. He goes into the office four days a week and works from home the rest, and I go in on those days. We get to stay at home with James and keep our careers."

"I don't know if Ron would go for that. He's really old-fashioned. He never lets me pay at the store, or at restaurants, or anywhere, really. He thinks it's the man's job to do everything for the wife. But that's just not true anymore, not in our day and age," Hermione said, sounding much more like her usual self.

"You know, you're perfectly right. But as much as it pains me to say this, I think you need to apologize to Ron for slapping him. But only for slapping him, everything else you said was perfectly in line. He needs to apologize and learn that the times have changed." Ginny looked at Hermione, a grin growing on her face. "And if he starts spewing sexist trash again, Floo me and I'll come over and hit him with Teddy's grappling hook _again_."

* * *

Hermione walked into her and Ron's house, hoping that Ron was still awake. She'd ended up staying for dinner with the Potters, because she didn't feel up to facing Ron right after her breakdown/hormone-induced rage.

"Ron?" She called into the dark house. Her voice echoed. "Are you still up?"

She turned the corner into the kitchen and found Ron asleep on the floor, dried tears on his face, a purple bruise on his cheek, and grasping a picture of the two of them on their honeymoon tightly in his hands.

"Oh, Ron…" Hermione said. He was still a chauvinistic pig, but a sweet one at that. The floor creaked under her foot and Ron's eyes blinked open.

"Eh… On Wednesday we wear pink," he mumbled.

Hermione laughed, which caused him to move his head.

"What time is it?" He asked.

Hermione checked her watch. "Uh, 9:30 in the evening."

"Sleepy time," he said.

"No, Ron, wake up!" She poked his face.

"OW!" He flailed about before waking up fully. "Damn, Hermione, you could've just woken me up nicely."

"Ron, I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry for slapping you earlier. I know I shouldn't have let my anger get the best of me."

"It's alright, Hermione. I know I said some bad things as well. And…" He trailed off.

He spoke again a few moments later. "I was thinking, maybe, we could try a compromise? When Rosie is born, maybe I work for a few days at the store, then take the rest of the week off, and you work at the office on those days? We both get to work, but we also get to spend time with Rosie. And, I'm sorry for what I said. It's just that I'm used to mum staying at home, and dad working, so I guess I hadn't considered that women can be the providers for the house. And I think I'm okay if you do that."

"Oh, Ron!" Hermione grabbed him in a tight hug.

"I love you, 'Mione," Ron said, looking into her eyes.

"I love you too, Ron, no matter what."

* * *

**A/N: Please review! And did you spot the Mean Girls reference?**


	19. How Much You Mean to Me

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. **

* * *

**How Much You Mean to Me**

"Are you sure you can handle Rose?" Hermione asked, adjusting the four-month old baby in her arms. "Ginny's getting pretty big, and Jamie is a lot to handle."

"Hermione, we'll be fine. Don't worry. I want to spend time with my little niece, right, Rosie?" Harry tickled the baby's chin and she giggled a little.

"Okay… her bag is packed with nappies, food, toys, and her blankie for sleeping. She usually sleeps pretty well at night now, and most likely won't wake up. But if she does, just read to her and she'll calm right down."

"Sounds kind of like you, Hermione."

"Shut up, Harry." Hermione blushed a little before continuing. "You can put her down for a nap at around six, and then when she wakes up you can feed her. Then she usually falls back asleep around eight."

"Relax, Hermione, we've already been through this with Jamie."

Hermione sighed. "I know."

"You two have fun on your date, alright?" Harry smiled and waved as Ron and Hermione exited through the Floo.

"Bye, Rosie!" Hermione said.

Six-month pregnant Ginny walked in. "Hi, Rosie!" she said, looking down at the baby. "James just went down for a nap," she said to Harry.

"It's almost four," said Harry. "Why don't we put Rose down now?"

"Sure… but I'm really hungry for some pasta with chocolate right now, so could you please put her in the crib?"

"Sure, Gin." He took Rose upstairs, bag in one hand, and walked into the nursery. James was still sleeping in Harry and Ginny's bed, but once Albus came along, James would move into his own room. Harry put Rose into the crib they'd used for James at that age. Rose went down without a fuss, soon sucking her thumb, eyes closed. Harry smiled and closed the door behind him quietly as he left the room.

Harry returned to the kitchen to find Ginny gorging on spaghetti with chocolate, meatballs, and strawberries. Wrinkling his nose slightly, he crossed over into the sitting room when a cry emerged from upstairs.

"Harry?" Ginny called. "Nappy change time."

* * *

"Oh, Rosie, what do they feed you?" Harry asked, expertly changing her nappy with one hand, the other holding up a copy of the newest issue of _Quidditch Monthly. _It seemed as though the Chudley Cannons had won a match, although he had no idea how. The team was really quite awful. As Harry finished changing her, Rose gurgled happily, chewing on a toy hippogriff.

Rose soon fell asleep once again and Harry gently placed her back in the crib. She looked a lot like Hermione, but with Ron's red hair and long nose.

Harry was suddenly overcome with emotion, seeing the child of his two best friends. He felt like he owed something to Rose, and he wanted to tell her how much her parents meant to him.

"Rosie, I've never told anyone this before, not even your parents, but I think they know. Your parents are wonderful people, and I'm so glad that I met them."

Unbeknownst to Harry, Ginny was standing in the doorway, wanting to make sure Harry had changed Rose's nappy correctly. A smile flashed across her face and she noiselessly ran down the stairs to retrieve something.

"And for some reason, that they decided to be my friends. They didn't become my best mates because I was the 'Chosen One' or the 'Boy Who Lived.' They gave me a chance, and they became my friends because they liked _me_, not my image. They stuck with me until the end, and I know I wouldn't be standing here without them."

"I guess- I just wanted to thank them and I never really have. I think they know deep down, but I haven't ever worked up the courage to tell them how much they mean to me. But I can tell you, right? You won't go telling everyone that Uncle Harry is a softie?"

"She won't, but I will," came Ginny's voice. He whipped around. She was smirking and holding her cell phone (Harry had showed her how to use one) in her hand. A long mane of bushy hair flew at Harry and he staggered back a little as Hermione tackled him with a hug.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said, tears in her eyes, releasing Harry from her embrace. Ron was standing next to them, blushing but looking happy.

"I called them over as soon as you started talking," Ginny said, smirking.

"We've always known, mate. That's why we've stuck by you all these years. Who else will save your butt every time you try to do something stupid?" Ron asked, softly punching Harry on the shoulder.

Harry grabbed Ginny, Ron, and Hermione in a group hug.

"Thank you. All of you."

* * *

**Thanks for reading.  
**


	20. Buh-Buh!

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. **

* * *

**Buh-Buh!**

"Careful!" Harry said, holding the door open for Ginny as she walked in, holding a small bundle of blue blankets.

"I know, Harry, I've already done this once before!" Ginny huffed.

"Sorry, I just-"

"Harry! Ginny! Albus!" came a voice from down the hall, and Hermione sprinted towards them.

"How does baby Albus feel about coming home for the first time?" Hermione cooed in a baby voice to the bundle.

"Well, he's asleep," Ginny said.

"Oh…" Hermione trailed off. "I put Jamie down for a nap," she whispered to Harry, who nodded.

"Thanks again for watching him, Hermione. We wanted to bring him to the hospital, but he's still only a year old, we didn't want him to get sick, and we wouldn't be able to properly watch him during all of that stress."

"I completely understand. Jamie's so cute, anyway, it was fun watching him. But I do have to get going now, Ron is coming home from a mission and he's usually very hungry after them."

"Ron's always hungry," Harry muttered under his breath as Hermione flooed away.

"Let's take him upstairs into the crib," Ginny said softly, watching her second son sleep peacefully. Harry followed her up the magnificent dark oak stairs and into the nursery, where a blue crib was sitting.

"Good night, Albus," Ginny said, kissing his small forehead.

Harry chuckled. "Ginny, it's only 3 in the afternoon."

"Shut up."

They watched their small son sleep for a while, then headed back down into the sitting room. Harry went and got some ice cream for both of them.

"We might as well treat ourselves a little," Ginny said, ravenously digging into her bowl.

"Ginny, you've had ice cream almost every day."

"Shut up."

After a few minutes of eating, Ginny spoke. "I can't wait for Jamie to meet Albus for the first time. It'll be so cute."

* * *

Harry was very excited for his two sons to meet. His elation with having a family of his own was so great, he felt like hugging anyone in the area.

"Alright, Ginny, I'll watch Albus. Can you go get Jamie?" She nodded in response to his question, turned, and left the nursery. Albus was still asleep. He looked so peaceful.

Ginny walked in quietly, holding James in her arms. "He just woke up when I walked in," she mouthed to Harry. The little one-year old looked tired, and he was sucking his thumb, an old habit.

"Hi, Jamie. Did you have a good nap?" Harry asked. James turned his head away, whimpering slightly.

"Jamie, I want you to meet someone." Surprisingly, James's head turned back and looked at Harry. Ginny brought him closer to the crib.

"Look, Jamie. It's your new baby brother, Albus."

James looked confused, as much as a baby could, anyway, then he turned his head away again, seemingly hiding.

"Jamie?" Harry asked gently. He wouldn't budge.

"We'll try again when he's not so tired," Ginny said, knowing that Harry would feel a little disappointed at this failed first encounter.

Harry nodded and looked back at Albus, then at Ginny again. "I guess I'll start dinner now, okay?" Trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice, he turned from the crib and made his way towards the door when a small voice stopped him.

"Buh-buh!" James said, reaching his hand out towards Albus. "Buh-buh!"

"Harry! He's saying baby!" Ginny almost squealed. Harry rushed to her and James's side. James looked positively distressed that he couldn't reach "the buh-buh". Ginny moved James closer to Albus.

James reached a small hand out. Harry and Ginny watched, transfixed, as their two sons were about to meet for the first time.

James poked Albus on the nose. The little newborn's face screwed up and he started wailing. James, frightened, started crying at the top of his lungs as well.

"It's gonna be a long eleven years!" Ginny shouted over the noise, and she and Harry grinned at each other as they both tried to soothe the son closest to them.


	21. You Lost The Baby?

**Please enjoy the next one-shot.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**You Lost The Baby?**

"Come on, Jamie, you're almost here! Just one more step!" James took one tentative, wobbly step, then teetered caught him quickly. She surveyed the large living room. Everything was padded and anything that could hurt James was covered with foam. Maybe she'd gone a little overboard, but he had taken his first step two weeks ago and was now a walking baby.

"We'll try walking again later, won't we, Jamie," she cooed in a baby voice. He giggled, then yawned.

"Are we sleepy, now? Let's go take a nap, shall we?" She carried her son up the stairs and into his Quidditch themed bedroom. She lay him down in his crib. He was already asleep.

Ginny crept out of the room on tiptoe and closed the door quietly. She quickly poked her head into Albus's nursery- he was fast asleep as well.

"Ginny! I'm home!" Harry called. She heard him close the door, and went back down the stairs to greet her husband.

He kissed her on the cheek. "How was your day?"

"I managed to finish up the article about the Chudley Cannons, but I have another assignment this weekend.

"More importantly, though, James almost made it across the living room today!" she said, taking Harry's coat. He hung up his Auror necktie next to the coat.

"Really? We need to buy a Muggle camera to record him and his first steps."

"We better keep it away from Dad. He'll turn it into scraps within the hour."

"We can buy him an extra one to tinker with," Harry said, leading Ginny into the kitchen and grabbing a box of cookies. He opened it to find one cookie left.

"We need more cookies," he said, surveying the last one sadly.

* * *

"What movie do you want to watch?" Harry asked, plopping onto the sofa in front of their Muggle television.

"That movie that Hermione gave us," Ginny answered promptly.

"A Muggle movie?" he asked incredulously. "About princesses?"

"Hermione says she and Rosie watch it all the time. Now, stop questioning me and just put it in the DPF player."

"DVD," he muttered.

"I heard that."

As the movie started playing, a wail came from upstairs.

"It must be Albus," Harry said, getting up off the couch. "Keep watching, I'll be down soon." Harry made his way up the stairs and into Albus's nursery. The baby was whimpering a little.

"Hey, Albus," Harry greeted his second son. He picked Albus up and fed him a bottle, burping him quickly. He fell right back asleep. Harry placed his son gently back into the crib and closed the door quietly. Tiptoeing down the hall, Harry poked his head into James's room.

His heart stopped, and he pushed the door open quickly. He ran to the crib and pulled off the blanket, revealing an empty mattress. The side bars of the crib were lowered.

"James?" Harry switched on the light and proceeded to search every inch of the room. Now really panicking, he burst out of James's room and ran down the stairs, two at a time. He skidded into the TV room where Ginny was watching the film with great interest.

"Ginny! I can't find James!"

"WHAT?" she shrieked, falling off of the sofa and knocking into the "DPF" case. Brightly colored and designed plastic cases showered onto her.

"He wasn't in his crib, or his room!" Harry cried. He ruffled his hand through his hair and started pacing. "He couldn't have gotten far, could he? Ginny, how long ago did you put him down for his nap?"

"I don't know, an hour ago, maybe?"

"Did you hear anything odd from upstairs?"

"No, everything was quiet. Oh, Merlin, we lost our kid!"

"Let's go search upstairs. He has to be there!" He ran back up the stairs, two at a time once more, Ginny right at his heels.

He ran into their bedroom and ripped the covers off of their bed, then ran around, calling, "James? Jamie!" He opened the closet, grabbed armfuls of clothes and threw them out, looking frantically into the corners of the closet. _James isn't here! Where is he?_

He went back into the hallway and almost ran into Ginny.

"I didn't find him in the bathroom, Albus's bedroom, or the closets. That means he must've somehow gotten downstairs!"

Harry groaned. Why was their house so bloody big? "Come on!" He led the way back down the stairs, once again taking them two at a time.

"I'll check the kitchen. You go to the guest bedrooms." Ginny rushed off. Harry sprinted down the hallway and into the first guest room. It was quiet, tidy, and empty, as they almost never used it.

Harry ripped the blankets off the small bed, then ran around the room, opening drawers, looking under the bed, and almost breaking the door of the closet in his haste.

The second bedroom was similarly empty, and by now Harry was seriously panicking. _Where's our baby! _

Harry met Ginny in the hallway, who shook her head. He racked his brain for ideas. Where could a baby who was just learning to walk hide?

"He couldn't have made it out of his room… maybe he's still in there?" Harry said slowly.

"Let's go check!" Ginny said desperately, leading the way back up the stairs, two at a time. She switched on the lamp and the room was flooded with light.

"Search every inch of the room," Ginny ordered. They split up, each taking half of the room.

"He's not in here!" Harry cried. Ginny looked devastated, much like how Harry felt.

"Maybe- maybe someone took him, Gin! It could've been anyone with a grudge against us…"

Ginny's mouth fell open. "Oh, no… my baby…"

"I'll call Kingsley, right now," Harry said, making his way over to the door. He went into the upstairs sitting room, Ginny following closely. She looked close to tears.

"We'll find him, Ginny. Don't worry," Harry said reassuringly, ignoring the doubts that sprung to his mind. He took a pinch of Floo Powder and was about to throw it into the fire when he heard a giggle.

Why was Ginny laughing? And she never giggled like that…

"Ginny? That wasn't you, was it?" Harry asked.

"No, of course not. It wasn't me." She looked dumbfounded.

"Well, then, who could it have been?"

Ginny gasped. "It came from your study. Come on." She grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into his study. It looked undisturbed and empty, everything in place as Harry had left.

"I could've sworn it came from here… maybe a stray toy?" Ginny asked.

"That's probably what it was. Let's go call King- There it was again!" Harry listened closely and heard another quiet giggle. "That's not a toy."

Harry gasped.

"What? What is it?" Ginny asked desperately.

An idea popped into Harry's head. A wild and very unreasonable one, yes, but it was an idea, and by now, the two were ready to try anything.

On a hunch, Harry reached his hand out cautiously and grabbed what looked like the empty air, then pulled away, revealing a mass of silvery, light fabric and a chubby, smiling baby. His giggle at being found was cut off by Ginny's screech.

"JAMES!" Ginny screamed.

Jamie was sitting next to Harry's desk, smiling up at his parents, unknowing of what had just happened. _He was under the cloak this whole damn time? _Harry grinned in spite of himself.

Ginny picked James up and kissed him on the cheek, hugging him tightly. "Oh, I'm never going to let you out of my sight again!" James giggled once again.

"He probably managed to get out of his crib, since the gate was open, it must've not been latched completely. Then he got into here and found my cloak, and then we ran around the house like idiots when he was just sitting here, _invisible, _the whole time."

Harry grinned at his son, who was cooing to himself, oblivious to the fact that his parents almost called the entire Ministry out on a search for him.

"Seems like he did it on purpose. Like his grandpa would." Ginny laughed.

Harry smiled. James Sirius Potter was really living up to his namesakes.

"Now, Harry, give me the cloak," she said seriously.

"Why?"

"I'm throwing it out."

"NOOOOOO!"

"I'm joking, calm down, Harry..." Ginny said hastily as Harry tried to hide his cloak.

* * *

**Please review, we really appreciate it. **


	22. Everything I Need

**The response from last chapter was absolutely amazing! Thank you all so much.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Everything I Need**

"Percy, we've got to go!" Audrey called to him from the kitchen.

"Coming, dear!" He called back, appearing in the doorway a moment later, buttoning the top button of his shirt. "Ready?" Percy asked, picking up Molly. She was sleeping peacefully.

"Ready." Audrey smiled up at him, threw a handful of green powder into the fireplace, and said, "Shell Cottage."

* * *

"Make sure you keep mum and dad away at least until 8 o'clock, alright?" Ginny said. The entire family was hiding in Shell Cottage, headquarters for Operation Daddy-Party.

"Yes, Gin, we know. Take mum and dad to a Muggle movie while you lot fix up dad's surprise party," Percy said.

"Yay! Pawty!" James cried, clapping his small hands as he ran around the room. His brother was asleep, as were Rose and Hugo.

"Why don't you go upstairs to see what Vic, Dom, and Louis are doing?" Bill suggested. The kids might accidentally let something slip to Arthur- best to have them distracted. Fred and new-born Roxy were also upstairs, with Angelina keeping an eye on them.

"Otay!" James ran up the stairs as fast as his little feet could carry him.

"Just make sure you keep Arthur away from the Burrow for a few hours. But make sure you're here at exactly 8," Hermione chimed in. "We'll head over to the Burrow from here after you get Arthur out."

Audrey nodded. "It may be a bit hard to drag him back from the Muggle cinema, but we'll manage." She smiled.

* * *

"Hello Molly, Arthur," Audrey greeted pleasantly, stepping into the kitchen.

"Hello, Audrey, dear. Where's Percy?" Molly asked, getting up to hug Audrey.

"Oh, he's coming." As if on cue, Percy stepped out of the fireplace, rubbing soot out of his eyes.

"Hi mum. Hi dad. We came to visit." Percy announced, winking at Molly. Molly was in on the plan, but Arthur had no idea what would happen at eight o'clock that night.

"Visit? Why?" Arthur was completely befuddled. The entire family came for dinner every Sunday, so why would Percy and Audrey suddenly come to visit?

"Well," Percy glanced at Audrey and smirked secretively. "We have a surprise for you."

"What is it?" Arthur looked excited.

"We're taking you to see a Muggle movie!" Audrey said excitedly.

Arthur's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. "Really?" He was so excited that he bounced up and down in his seat, a giddy smile on his face. "But I thought you were against those, Molly?" He looked at her questioningly.

"I was, but they talked me into it," Molly said, begrudgingly.

"And what about the others?" He asked.

"They're all coming later for the family dinner and cake. We just thought it'd be nice to take you out earlier for your birthday. Our treat," Percy said.

"Oh, alright. Which film are we seeing?"

"It's called Violet Suns," Audrey said.

"Ooh, what's that about?" Arthur asked.

"It's about a duchess and her royal family!" Audrey squealed.

Arthur almost squealed as well. "Let's go!"

Percy groaned.

* * *

**1 Hour Later**

"What is that ingenious invention?" Arthur asked, pointing.

"That's the projector. It plays the movie onto the screen," Audrey said patiently

"What's that?"

"That's the Emergency Exit, in case of, well, an emergency."

"What's that?"

"That's just a woman."

"Oh. Sorry. I'm just excited."

Molly came bustling down the row and into her seat. "I brought snacks!" She held up her purse.

"Oh, Molly, outside food isn't allowed. Sorry. But Percy will go buy us some." Audrey nudged her husband.

"I will? Oh, right, I will!" He jumped up and ran out. A few minutes later he returned with all sorts of Muggle sweet treats, and Arthur's face lit up at the sight of them.

"Look, dear, they've got chocolates too! And they've got them in all different sizes and colors! And- worms? Muggles eat worms?" Arthur asked, intrigued.

"No, those aren't real worms. They're called gummy worms. They're actually rather good," Audrey explained.

"And what are these?" Arthur pulled out a chocolate bunny- apparently, the cinema didn't realize those were only for Easter. "A real rabbit coated in chocolate? That's odd."

Audrey giggled. "No, it's just chocolate in the shape of a rabbit." Wizards didn't have Easter bunny-shaped candy. Pity, it was.

The lights darkened and Arthur jumped. "Is the Ekelecity out? Do we need to leave?"

"No, that just means the film's starting." Audrey sat back next to Percy and smiled. Everything was going as planned.

"_But, mother, I have to! Count Ivan Terrence Trayson Rhys requested my hand in marriage!" Violet Lucinda Madeline Jessamine protested._

"_Violet Lucinda Madeline Jessamine, you have a duty to this kingdom! You are betrothed to Sir Dresden!" Queen Evangeline Mary Elizabeth Giovanna Jessamine cried._

"_Mother, I love Count Ivan! Not Sir Dresden! When will I be able to make choices for myself, and not for the kingdom?"_

Audrey, Molly, and Arthur were glued to the screen.

"_Why are you disobedient? Priscilla Skylar and Esmeralda Estelle are both happily married!"_

"_Mother, I will not be happy! Dresden is irascible! I don't love him!"_

"_You must! That is final!" The Queen slapped Violet across the face._

_Violet burst into sobs and ran out of the room._

Audrey heard someone sniffle beside her. She turned towards Molly, but her eyes were trained on the screen. Arthur was equally engrossed. That meant Percy….

"She just wanted to marry Ivan Terrence Trayson Rhys! Doesn't Queen Evangeline Mary Elizabeth Giovanna Jessamine know that Violet Lucinda Madeline Jessamine won't be happy with Dresden?" Percy whispered, tears glinting in his eyes behind his horn-rimmed glasses.

* * *

_Violet made her way down the aisle towards Sir Dresden. A tear ran down her cheek and she brushed it away. The Queen made it quite clear- Violet was to be wed to Sir Dresden._

_The door swung open._

"Count Ivan Terrence Trayson Rhys?" Percy asked incredulously. "WOO! SAVE VIOLET FROM THAT VILE SCUMBAG!" A few film-goers turned around to stare at him.

"Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly.

"_Violet Lucinda Madeline Jessamine, I am here to claim your hand in marriage!" Count Ivan panted._

"_Oh, yes, Ivan, yes!" Violet ran towards him, but before she could reach, the Queen grabbed her sharply by the arm._

"_Violet! You must marry Dresden! For the kingdom!" Queen Evangeline Mary Elizabeth Giovanna Jessamine dragged her daughter roughly back to Sir Dresden._

"_Violet!" Ivan cried tragically. Two palace guards grabbed him roughly._

"_Ivan!" She screamed, her voice fading as Ivan was thrown out of the hall. He sobbed as rain came down, thunder booming and lightning crackling overhead._

_THE END_

"What? That's it?" Percy sat up, outraged, sending his drink flying.

"Don't worry, Perce, they're making a sequel already. It'll be out next year," Audrey reassured.

"NEXT YEAR? I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG! What happens to Violet and Ivan? I need to know!" Percy raged. "Three hours is not enough for this story! I need more!"

"Percy, calm down! It's just a movie, and besides, people are starting to stare," Audrey whispered, looking around. She quickly brought their group out of the theater and into the lobby.

"Let them stare! I didn't do anything wrong! I'm just expressing my feelings! Isn't that what you've always told me to do?"

"Well, yes, but- not like- you can't just- not like this," Audrey stammered, flustered. "Listen, it's half past seven, now, so we should walk around a bit, and then Apparate back to the Burrow. Alright- are you even listening, Percy?"

Percy turned around. He had been studying the poster for the film that they had just watched, looking for any clues about the sequel. "I- er, well, I-" Percy stammered. Audrey glared.

"I _said_, it's half past seven, so we should go for a walk and then go back to the Burrow."

Meanwhile, Arthur was talking excitedly about what he just witnessed. "There were people on the wall! And they walked and talked and did everything like us! And the mother slapped her daughter! And they were so little! And the _chocolate bunny_!"

Molly smiled fondly. "Yes, Arthur, dear, I see." Arthur kept mumbling excitedly to himself, gazing at all the different snacks and toys in the glass cases inside the theater lobby.

"Arthur, Molly, let's go down to the Muggle toy store," Audrey suggested. "We'll help you figure out how everything there works. I know you'll find it fascinating."

Arthur smiled. "This is the best present ever."

* * *

"Remind me, why are we doing this the Muggle way?" Bill asked, grunting as he brought a ladder in to help hang decorations.

"Because dad will appreciate it way more if we do it this way," Charlie said. He was on vacation for a week from Romania to celebrate Arthur's birthday.

"No! The Muggle streamers have to go over here, not there!" Ginny screeched, trying to put up balloons, hold a crying Albus, and make cranberry sauce all at once. She really was turning into Molly.

"I swear she gets more like mum every day," George muttered. Ron snickered.

"I HEARD THAT!" Ginny screamed.

George gave a start and dropped his giant armful of streamers on Ron's head. The rolls unravelled, and colorful streamers quickly covered the floor of the room. Albus giggled and wormed his way from Ginny's grasp and grabbed a roll of streamers, making a larger mess.

"GEORGE!" Ginny yelled. "Hermione, what time is it?"

"Um, 7:30."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

"Oh, Percy! It's 8 o'clock. _We need to go back_," Audrey whispered. Percy nodded.

"Hey, dad, let's go home, shall we? You can play with the toys you bought at the store," Percy suggested after seeing Arthur's reluctant look. "You can take them apart, look at the mechanisms and workmanship."

Arthur's face lit up. "Everything I've seen today is so _fascinating_! Ingenious, all of these Muggle inventions are."

"Okay, shall we go home, then?" Audrey asked, smiling.

"Yes, let's go. I want to take this little car apart and see how that man at the store got it to move forward just by pushing it backwards."

* * *

A silvery-white hummingbird fluttered through the walls and into the midst of the chaos.

"WE'RE COMING. BE READY," It announced, then dissolved into mist.

The room was silent, and then...

"WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? EVERYONE _HIDE_!" Ginny screeched, and everyone in the room instantly ran to their hiding places. Ginny waved her wand and all the decorations that hadn't been put up yet suddenly fell into place. Everyone's jaws dropped open.

"You couldn't have done that in the first place, woman!" Charlie whispered, outraged. Ginny just smirked at him and squatted down next to Harry.

* * *

Percy glanced down at his watch. "It's 8:01, Audrey," he whispered.

The Burrow was dark.

"Alright, everyone, let's get inside and work on that dinner. Everyone will be here in an hour." Molly marched them all into the dark Burrow.

"Where's the lamp-" Arthur flicked his wand the room was bathed with light.

"SURPRISE!"

"ARGH!" Arthur fell back in shock.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The entire Weasley family yelled.

"Happy bif'day!" cried Albus.

"What- how- movie- was- all part of this scheme?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"Yes, dad." Percy smiled.

"I- Thank you all so much." To their surprise, Arthur wiped away a tear.

"Wha' happen, gwanda'?" James asked innocently.

"I- I'm just very happy right now, Jamie. Thank you." Arthur knelt down as all the children rushed toward him and hugged him.

"YAY! PAWTY!" Rose squeaked. "I wan' cake!" All the children took up this request and surrounded their parents, clamoring for cake.

"Yeah, I want some cake too," Arthur said, smiling, as Angelina brought out the cake.

"I wish Fred could have been here to see this," George said. No one flinched. It was a sign of how much everyone had healed. They all smiled sadly at the mention of their lost brother.

"Make a wish, Arthur," Molly said, beaming down at the cake.

Arthur looked around at his family, who surrounded him, who were in everything that he did, who loved him. Through thick and thin. Through love and loss. Then he looked Molly in the eye and said, "I don't have to. I have everything I need."

And he blew out the candles.

* * *

**Thank you all again for your reviews, follows, and favorites! **

**I wanted to answer a couple of questions guest reviewers left. No, Rose is not going to fall in love with Scorpius, most likely. And this story will be 50 one-shots long. And if anyone was wondering, I post on Fridays usually.  
**

**I can't believe we're almost halfway through this story (25 is half to 50). Let's see if we can get to at least 60 reviews by then! I know you all can do it.**


	23. Rinner, Difreshments, and Compooters

**Thanks to those who reviewed! Again, my PM isn't working for some reason, so if I don't reply to a review, don't take it personally ;). I still read all of them and I'm very appreciative.**

Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.

* * *

**Rinner, Difreshments, and Compooters**

"James!" Ginny shouted. "Stop hitting Albus with that stick!"

"Sowwy, mummy!" He cried, continuing to poke Albus. The victim in question tried to toddle away, but since his brother was a year older, James managed to catch up to Albus and continued terrorizing him.

"Who knew the terrible twos would be so… terrible," Ginny sighed to Harry. Harry raised an eyebrow, amused.

"You know, Gin, I'm pretty sure there's a reason they're called the _terrible_ twos, and not the terrific twos."

"How long does this last? He's two and a half… maybe till he's three?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"It's also called the terrible threes, you know," Harry said, winking.

"Will this never end?" Ginny wailed. "What else is there? The ferocious fours, the formidable fives, the sucky sevens, the extremely horrible eights?"

"Knowing James, this'll go on forever," Harry chucked. Ginny's eyes widened and she fell back onto the couch.

"It's okay, Gin, once he's eleven we can ship him off to Hogwarts. Or, if you really want, Durmstrang when he's ten."

"No! He's my baby!" Ginny cried possessively.

Harry grinned as he made his way to the door to stop James from bothering his brother even more. "That's what I thought."

* * *

Ginny set plates on the table, Albus already sleeping. "James, Harry! Time for dinner!" The two were playing with James' toy broomstick. Since today was Wednesday, it was Ginny's turn to cook.

"Coming Ginny!" Harry answered, and he and James made their way to the table. However, before they could sit down, the bell rang.

"Who's that?" Harry asked, looking up at Ginny.

"No idea." Ginny opened the front door and blinked once. Twice. Three times, before she regained her senses and said, "Professor McGonagall, how lovely to see you! Please, come in. Would you like some rinner? Or, how about a difreshment?" Ginny blinked again.

"I'm not quite sure what those are, Mrs. Potter, but I will be glad to accept. I've had a long journey, and I'm not getting any younger." Minerva made her way into the Potters' home and neatly hung up her wool coat.

"Minerva?" Harry asked incredulously, holding a giggling, gravy-stained Jamie as he made his way into the room. "What's the matter? Did something happen?"

"No, no, nothing bad has happened. I suppose I should have called ahead to warn you about my visit, but no matter now."

"Oh...will you stay for dinner?" Harry asked, regaining his senses from initial shock.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Potter, but I believe Mrs. Potter has already invited me to 'rinner'. I'd be happy to join you. We can discuss the matter that has brought me here."

"Of course, right this way." Harry shot Ginny an incredulous look, then led Minerva into the dining room. He put James down in his high chair as Ginny filled a plate with food for the professor.

Jamie immediately grabbed for the gravy dish once more and almost spilled it, if not for Ginny's quick Quidditch reflexes. He giggled and took a piece of bread.

Ginny opened her mouth, about to start the conversation, when Albus' cries were heard on the baby monitor.

"Good heavens! Where is that noise coming from?" Minerva asked, alarmed. "I can hear a baby crying, and it sounds like it's right next to me, but I can't see one anywhere!"

"Oh, that's called a baby monitor. It's a Muggle device. It allows parents to be away from their babies but hear the babies' cries as well." Harry explained as Ginny went to fetch Albus.

"How ingenious! I don't know why dark wizards ever think they're better than Muggles; we don't have anything close to this. The Muggle contraptions are so clever and useful." Harry smiled at this. "What else do you have here?" Minerva was very curious.

"Well, we have bottle openers, a TV, a DVD player, computers…. um… oh! Refrigerators!"

"What is this compooter? How does it work?" Minerva asked.

"Well... There's a screen with pixels, and it gets the power from the power cords, which transfer the power from the wall socket, which is transferred from the power plant, which is powered by... You know, I think I'll explain another time."

Ginny came back, carrying Albus. "ALBIE!" James screamed excitedly, jumping up and down in his seat and clapping his hands together.

"Oh, how sweet," said Minerva, smiling at James and Albus.

"So... what's brought you here, Minerva?" Harry asked.

"The anniversary, right?" Ginny replied quietly, looking over at her old professor.

Minerva's mouth grew slightly less thin, and then she got right down to business. "Since it is the tenth anniversary, we are planning to build a new memorial, dedicated to everyone who died in the Battle of Hogwarts.

"We want to have portraits of all the fallen, but they will not be moving, obviously, because... well, one cannot teach a portrait to act like themselves if they are not alive."

She continued after a pause. "It is going to be a separate building next to Dumbledore's grave. Same marble, of course. But why I came here was…. Well, Harry, you knew many of the fallen quite well. I understand if you do not want to. But, as it may be, the staff of Hogwarts personally requested your assistance in writing eulogies for the portraits. It was just that the staff thought it would be more heartfelt coming from you."

"Of course I'll do it, Minerva. The heroes of the Battle deserve it," Harry said almost immediately, although anyone close to him could see that he still felt the pang of their loss.

"Thank you, Harry." Minerva smiled.

* * *

**Please review! You know you want to ;)  
**


	24. Don't Forget

**So sorry I forgot to post yesterday!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Don't Forget**

It was May 2nd, 2008. The ten-year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. Next to the lake with the giant squid, there was a small stage set up, along with thousands of chairs arranged in rows that faced it. People could be seen in white, taking their seats or already sitting.

Minerva McGonagall was nervous, and Minerva McGonagall never got nervous. Sure, she had given speeches before, but never had she been this apprehensive. This was a big day for so many.

Harry Potter was nervous too, but because he didn't like speaking in front of large crowds. Despite public opinion, he _didn't_ like the attention. It just always seemed to find him.

* * *

The audience waited patiently for the first speaker on the program. It had been ten years, and though they missed their loved ones, it was more of a fond remembrance, as opposed to the sharp pain that they had felt all those years ago.

Minerva McGonagall walked onto the stage, smoothing her hands against her robes nervously. "Thank you for being here today," she said, speaking to the large crowd. "We are here to honor those who were killed during the Battle of Hogwarts. They will be remembered, and we are here to do just that. I would like everyone who lost someone to please stand up."

Everyone stood.

"Take a look around you. Everyone here knows what it is like to lose someone you love, to know that you will never see them again. We are each other's strongest resource. Help each other, for no one else will know what loss feels like. No one else will know the pain. Help each other, give each other strength, _give each other hope_. For that is the most powerful force in this world, second only to love." And with that, Minerva smiled, and stepped down from the podium. The audience clapped for her, and she smiled again. She felt good.

Harry stepped forward, smoothing his hair down nervously. It stuck right back up again. He was very nervous about doing this. Although he knew he had to. And he knew he'd never be as good with words as Hermione was, but he had to at least try.

"Ten years ago this day, we defeated Voldemort and his Death Eaters. _We_ finally brought peace to the international wizarding community. It was not just me. _We_ did it. Everyone who ever risked their life to fight Voldemort is a true hero. I want to thank everyone who fought. And everyone who lost their lives to Lord Voldemort and his terrible, terrible regime, I thank you too.

"Today marks the tenth anniversary of the final battle, the Battle of Hogwarts. A new monument has been built in honor of those who were lost. And now, I would like to give you a chance to speak. If you have something to say about someone you've lost, or anything else, please come up to the stage." Harry looked around, trying to convince families to come up and speak.

The Creevey family stood up and made their way to the stage. Harry stepped back and let out a breath.

"I am George Creevey, and this is my wife Mary. We were the parents of Colin Creevey, who died after bravely coming back to fight although he was underage."

Mary spoke next. "Colin was a wonderful child. He would always listen, he was kind and generous, and he put others before himself. He loved to help people, and…"

* * *

After the Creeveys, George walked up to the stage.

"Ten years ago, this day, I lost a friend. He was...wonderful, and funny, and creative. He was kind and picked me up when I fell down- even when he was the one who had tripped me." A laugh came from the crowd.

"He was my brother. He knew me, ups and downs, likes and dislikes, and no one has ever known as much about me as he did. He was my twin. He was always there for me, always by my side, through good times and bad, through thick and through thin. His name was Fred.

"After he died, I couldn't make a Patronus. All my happiest memories included him. Us laughing, creating, just..._being_. And after he was gone, those memories only caused me pain. My wife helped me, but even after I got married, I still couldn't make a Patronus. I was... depressed. But then, my life changed. For one day, Angelina told me she was pregnant. And I thought that I would never be happier.

"I was wrong. When I held my first child, my son, named Fred, I felt warm. I felt full, and whole, and _happy_. And when I got home, I pulled out my wand, and saw a silver Labrador for the first time in ten years." George stepped off the stage, wiping his tears.

The rest of the Weasley smiled at George's memory while wiping away tears of their own.

* * *

Harry walked back to the podium nervously.

"Remus and Tonks were family to me. Remus was one of my father's best friends. Remus took care of me, he taught me how to cast a Patronus, he didn't give up on me. He took me in, even when the rest of the world shut me out. And I will never forget that kindness.

"Tonks was...special. She had this way of looking at the world and seeing the good things. She saw the world not as it was, but as it _could_ be. Everyday, I try to do the same.

"Teddy Lupin, their son, is one of the most precious things in my life. To honor Remus and Tonks, I will always look after Teddy. I will teach him to carry on their legacy."

Before Ginny could stop him, Teddy scampered onto the stage. "I wanna say something, Uncle Harry!"

Harry looked into Teddy's eyes. They looked just like Remus's. "Of course, Ted." Harry stepped away from the center of the stage.

"I wanted to say to you all… don't think, just because they're gone, doesn't mean they're not with you. My parents are always with me, watching over me. I know that. And everyone you loved is too."

There was a pause, and then Andromeda started clapping, tears streaming down her face as she smiled at the last link she had to her daughter. Soon the entire audience joined in with her. Teddy blushed and stepped back, hiding partly behind Harry.

"Good job, Ted." Harry ruffled his godson's hair.

* * *

"We mentioned that there would be something new this year. We are going to be having still portraits of all who died in the Battle of Hogwarts. And now, we present to you... The Hall of The Fallen." McGonagall said, waving her wand. A curtain behind her dropped, revealing an ornate, double-doored building. A gasp went up. Then, everyone stood up and made their way towards the hall. Murmurs and whispers were heard throughout, but for the most part, it was silent. It was a time of silence, to honor the dead.

The building was erected of white marble, as Minerva had said. The inside was entirely marble as well. Every five feet there was an ornate column between two portraits. Red curtains were draped along the walls. Large burning torches provided illumination, although the room was dimly lit.

Quiet sobs and sniffles could be heard as family members made their way to their loved ones' portraits. But if one went around, they could see sad, watery smiles on the faces of the mourners. Painted by hand, each portrait was life-like. Beneath each representation of a lost hero was a eulogy, written by those closest to the ones lost.

At the end of the building read a message carved into the white stone. The flames flickered on them as the mourners took it in.

"We fought. We won. We lost. We must never forget."

* * *

**Please Review!**


	25. My Father Will Hear About This

**Thanks to all of our fans! The response has been amazing. If I could PM every reviewer, I could, but my PM feature is not functioning for some odd reason. I'm trying to fix it, so let's hope it works!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**My Father Will Hear About This**

"Yay! Dagally!" James cried as Harry fastened him into his stroller.

"Remind me never to let James Floo us over to Diagon Alley. Don't want to end up in Knockturn instead," Ginny teased.

"That was an accident! I had ashes in my mouth!" Harry protested.

"Asses?" Albus asked innocently, blinking up at his parents with big eyes. He'd been trying out new words lately.

Harry blanched. "Um..."

"Let's get ice cream!" Ginny saved Harry from the sticky situation.

"Yay!" James and Albus clapped their hands.

"Let's go on the Muggle Underground, not Floo," Ginny directed, looking pointedly at her husband. Harry blushed.

* * *

"First we need to go to Gringotts, and then we need to get some more clothes for James, since he's been growing a lot, haven't you, Jamie?" Towards the end of her sentence, Ginny turned to James and gave him a little pinch on the cheek. James grinned toothily at her.

"And I need to stop by Quality Quidditch Supplies because I need some more polish for my broom," Harry said, ticking off on his fingers. "Then we need to go to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, because we're running low on wizarding supplies. And then we need to get more nappies for Albie, he's pooping his way through the whole box."

"I will die happily when they invent Magical self changing nappies," Ginny said dreamily.

"Or when we potty train him…" Harry trailed off.

"He's almost two. Mum says kids vary between 18 months to even three years before they're potty trained. We have some time."

Albus giggled and screwed up his face, grunting.

Ginny sighed. "I'll go." She picked up a smelly Albus and took him to the loo.

After Ginny and Albus returned from their smelly poop adventure, which involved an apple, two gallons of bleach, an eyeglasses case, a potted plant, and an old woman named Sally, the family made their way to the baby store named 'Billy Bob's Baby Bonanza.'

The store was quite large, full of toddler clothes and other items, like toys, books, and supplies like cribs and nappy bags. However, for some reason, they didn't stock nappies, which was odd considering it was a baby store.

"I'll take Al to look at some books and things while you get Jamie's clothes," Harry said, taking Albus in his arms and walking towards the books.

"Alright, Jamie, let's get this over with." James didn't like shopping, especially for clothes, and would always throw a temper tantrum until Ginny or Harry promised him a treat later.

"We'll get ice cream after this, yeah?" Ginny asked, trying to save herself from a tantrum.

"But I don't _wike _sopping!" James cried.

"How about this shirt, Jamie?" She held up a sea green shirt that read, "Cooler Than Daddy."

"No!" Jamie screeched.

Ginny sighed and resigned herself to a long afternoon.

* * *

"Time for ice cweam!" James sang. Ginny rolled her eyes, taxed from James' temper tantrum. They had spent _three hours_ in that store, as she waited for James to be cooperative. But they were finally done, and now they could just get some ice cream and _relax_, which was all she wanted.

But she had spoken (thought) too soon, for as they sat down with their ice cream at one of the tables outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, they saw none other than Draco Malfoy walking down the street.

"Why his hair so shiny?" James asked, Razzle-Dazzle ice cream all over his face.

Ginny laughed. "He uses lots of hair gel to make his hair look good. But really, it makes it look bad."

"Ginny! Don't teach them old prejudices!" Harry said, laughing.

"Fine, Harry." She leaned close to Jamie and Albie. "Slytherin sucks."

Harry laughed again.

Ginny licked more ice cream off of her cone, finally feeling content, what with today's poop adventure and Jamie's aversion to clothes shopping.

Suddenly, Harry grabbed her arm. He whispered to her urgently, "Take the kids home. Now."

"What?" She dropped her cone into the stroller, where it was immediately attacked by James and Albus.

"Remember that group I was telling you about? The one who resurfaced?" He asked urgently.

"Yeah, the one who is all about Blood Purity…." Ginny trailed off. He'd come home a few weeks ago, having done a raid on the headquarters of some new group who had tried to cause a ruckus around a Muggle town. These types of groups popped up from time to time, but they were never serious threats. Right?

"Well, I recognize those four, and they've been following that Muggle family over there, with, I'm guessing, a Muggle-born son. See?" He pointed across the street, and Ginny indeed saw four men in blue cloaks following a family with three children. The family was obviously Muggles because of the air of excitement and surprise with which they greeted almost everything. One child looked Hogwarts age, and the other two were just toddlers, like James and Albus.

"You don't think-"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking. I want you to get the kids to safety while I call for backup, alright?" Harry whispered.

"But- okay, I'll take them to Mum. But I'm coming back. And you can't stop me." Ginny got up off of her comfortable chair.

"Fine," Harry was counting on Molly not letting Ginny leave her sights after she went to the Burrow.

"Be careful. No heroics from you, alright?" She kissed him, then set off at a brisk pace down the street, pushing the stroller in front of her.

Harry pulled out his Auror badge and wand. He tapped it quickly, muttering a message under his breath as the words appeared, engraved in the smooth gold metal. Hermione had perfected the technology for the Auror Department last year.

He put away his badge and casually crossed the street. Pretending to peruse a stack of books outside of Flourish and Blotts, he watched the four men. Two of them were on either side of the family, who had stopped outside of a store to look at the cauldrons on display.

Harry grabbed a book at random and opened it, pretending to read as he inched his way towards two of the men.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of them reach for his wand slowly…..

_BANG!_

Before Harry could move, a flash of light momentarily blinded him. Blinking away the spots in his vision, he processed the strange sight before him.

The two men were sprawled under a wreckage of cauldrons and books. The other two were sprinting down Diagon Alley, and at the end of the street they Disapparated. The family of Muggles was clutching each other, frightened, as _Draco Malfoy _stood with his wand outstretched.

"Don't touch them," he said fiercely. Then he caught sight of Harry and blanched. Harry, unable to do anything due to his shock, stood there uselessly, his jaw hanging open, staring at Malfoy. Suddenly, he came to his senses, and pulled his Auror badge out of his pocket. He tapped it and said quietly, "Never mind, situation under control."

Malfoy walked over to the two men still on the ground. "Don't _ever_ let me catch you trying to attack Muggles again," he growled. The men nodded in fright and scampered away, constantly looking over their shoulders. Next, Malfoy turned to the Muggle family. "Be careful, alright? There are more people like that, unfortunately, and there won't always be someone around to help."

"Thank you, sir," the father said, shaking Malfoy's hand.

Harry blinked. Was this really Malfoy? It had to be an imposter. Or was he under the Imperius Curse?

Malfoy walked across the street to Harry and smiled nervously at him. "Hello, Potter."

"Malfoy? Is that really you in there?"

"Yeah, I've, er- the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts has helped me realize….that- that what I did all those years ago was wrong. And I'm sorry, Potter." He hung his head. _Yes, definitely under the Imperius Curse. _"I guess I figured out that Blood Purity doesn't really matter all that much. It was the cause of all of the destruction the Dark Lord had created. And my mum's sister is a Blood Traitor. She's the first one to come around. Dad's taking a bit more time.

"And it shouldn't matter, because you, a Half-Blood, saved me and the entire Wizarding World. You're a much better wizard than I could ever be, and I'm a Pure-Blood. So I like to think I've changed a little."

Harry's only response was to gape at Malfoy.

"Yes, but if you tell anyone, my father will hear about this." Malfoy smirked a little at the old joke and walked away.

"Harry! I'm here, I'm here!" Ginny exclaimed, suddenly standing by his side, wand at the ready. "Where are they?"

Harry smiled. "An old friend helped me out."

* * *

**I don't want to spoil anything, but the next two weeks' oneshots are pretty "intense", if I do say so myself ;) so stay tuned! **

**And, as always, please review :)  
**


	26. Please Don't Leave

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Please Don't Leave**

"Come in, come in!" Ginny welcomed as she opened the door. Neville, Hannah, and Augusta Longbottom walked through the door. Alice was being pushed in her baby stroller.

"Hi, Ginny, how've you been?" Hannah asked, giving Ginny a hug.

"Tired. And you?" Ginny rubbed her baby bump and smiled.

"Busy," Hannah replied, giving Ginny a knowing looking and rubbing her own bump.

Ginny laughed. "And how have you been, Augusta?"

"Oh, taking care of Alice, the Leaky Cauldron. I've been keeping rather busy," Augusta said, smiling and hugging Ginny.

"Yes, Augusta has been a great help with everything. I don't know what I would do without her," Hannah said gratefully.

"Why don't you put Alice down with Albus in the playpen? They can play together," Ginny suggested.

"Sure," Hannah said, walking over to the playpen. "Alright, Alice, go play with Albus, ok? Have fun!"

Just then, James came running into the room.

"Uncle Nev!" Jamie cried, launching himself at Neville. Neville chuckled and picked up the three-year-old. Augusta smiled fondly.

"Mummy says we call you 'cause we have a big anounment!" James said enthusiastically, looking over at Hannah. He could never quite get 'announcement' correct.

Hannah smiled, amused. "Oh, does she, now?"

"James! Be quiet!" Ginny hissed, then smiled at the guests. "I'll get you three something to drink. And I'll call Harry down." She placed Albus in his playpen on the couch and opened the door to the kitchen, quickly shutting it behind her.

"HARRY! GET DOWN HERE! NOW!" She shrieked.

"Coming! Coming! Don't get mad at me, please!" Harry cried, rushing down the stairs. He was apparently very scared of Ginny's pregnancy hormone-induced wrath. Her fiery nature and temper increased tenfold at this stage of her pregnancy.

"Hey, Neville, Hannah, Augusta! How are you guys doing?" Harry came into the room, smiling.

"Good, you?" Neville shook Harry's hand.

"Wonderful. Hello, Alice," Harry said, kneeling down to speak to Alice in the playpen. "Her eyes are so pretty."

Harry stood up. "Would you like a juice box?"

"Juice box?" Hannah asked.

"Ginny doesn't allow alcohol in the house while she's pregnant."

Neville grinned. "Sure, why not."

"You know, that's a good rule. I think I'll do that too," Hannah said thoughtfully, rubbing her baby bump. She was a few months along. Neville groaned and glared at a smirking Harry.

Harry left the room, and after a few moments he returned holding five juice boxes. He handed one to James.

"I have apple and grape. Take your pick." Neville choose apple, as did Hannah and Harry. Augusta choose grape for herself.

Neville took a sip and gagged. "What is this? Lightly fruit flavored water?"

"It's 8% juice, 92% water. Ginny doesn't like sugary drinks for the kids," Harry said apologetically.

"Wow."

"Yeah, you kind of learn to just go with everything your wife says when she's pregnant and always angry at you. It wasn't this bad for Jamie or Albus, which makes me think-"

"I HEARD THAT!" Ginny shouted from the kitchen.

"Love you too, Gin," Harry called back.

Hannah and Neville laughed, sharing a look. _Hinny though_. "You two are hilarious."

"Thanks, Neville!" Ginny said, wiping her hands on a towel as she walked out of the kitchen. "Why can't you be as nice as him, Harry? I swear, you never say nice things to me." Ginny frowned.

Harry gaped. "What? I'm nice to you all the time!"

Ginny gave him a look.

"I am!"

"Uh-huh, all right Harry, whatever you say," Ginny said sarcastically, rolling her eyes to Hannah.

"Let's not argue in front of our guests," Harry tried to console his wife.

"Honestly, Harry, you don't have any manners!" Ginny scolded.

Harry sighed. "Yes, dear, I am an uncivilized ape of the male kind."

"Glad we cleared that up." She plopped onto the couch. "Sit down, everyone."

"So Hannah, Neville, how's the Leaky Cauldron?" Harry asked, easing back onto the couch.

"Great!" Neville's eyes sparkled. "Business has been booming! So much, in fact, we've decided to expand to another location."

"That's great!" Harry said.

"Yeah, we're going to add more rooms and a French restaurant. It's going to be more high-end, yes, but we feel that there's an untapped market for something like this in Diagon Alley." Neville descended into business talk into which Harry and Ginny quickly got lost.

"How are you going to manage, with the new baby and all?" Ginny asked, trying to steer the conversation away from logistics and numbers.

"Well, I'm going to stay in charge of the new building now, as it'll be a little smaller and easier to work with. For the original building, we're thinking of hiring someone. The man we've got our eye on is pretty experienced- he owns a pub in Godric's Hollow," Hannah put in.

"Ginny, dear, I've got a terrible migraine. D'you think you could get me some medicine?" Augusta suddenly broke in.

"Oh, of course, Augusta! Are you feeling alright?" Ginny asked, already on her way to the medicine cabinet.

"Yes, I think so."

"Here, it's a Muggle medicine called Aspirin. Harry introduced me to it- works wonders, it does," Ginny said, taking out a tablet and filling up a glass with water. "Put the tablet in your mouth, then swallow it down with the water. And drink the entire glass," Ginny instructed.

"Thank you, dear." Augusta followed Ginny's directions.

"Maybe you'll feel better if you eat something. Shall we have dinner, Gin?" Harry suggested.

"Yes, that's a good idea."

"Come on, mum," Neville said, taking Augusta's arm and leading her to the dinner table.

"Oh! I feel rather dizzy! I think I... I think I need to sit down," Augusta said wearily.

"Oh dear! Augusta, are you sure you're all right?" Hannah asked. "Let's get you some ginger, maybe?" She said, looking at Harry.

"Yeah, let me go grab some." Harry quickly strode out of the room while the rest of the adults watched Augusta concernedly.

Harry returned with a packet of candied ginger. "Here, Augusta, have one of these. It should help with the dizziness."

Augusta took one and chewed.

"Are you feeling any better, mum?" Neville asked, taking his grandmother's hand.

"A bit..." But Augusta's voice trailed off and she started mumbling incoherently, and now Neville was more than a little worried.

"I think we need to take her to St. Mungo's..." he trailed off, still looking at his grandmother nervously.

Augusta suddenly went limp in his arms.

"She collapsed! We need to go right away!" Neville was panicking.

Harry took charge. "Okay, Neville, calm down. Ginny, you and Hannah drive with the kids, since they can't Apparate yet. I'll go with Neville by Apparation. We'll see you there."

* * *

"Is she alright?" Neville paced back and forth across the waiting room. "I can't take this waiting anymore! Healer, my grandmother, is she okay?" Neville ran up to a passing Healer and grabbed his jacket. "I need information! She could be dying, Merlin knows how old she is!"

The Healer smiled reassuringly. "That's not my department, but I'm sure she'll be alright. We've got the best Healers in the world here."

Hannah walked over to him. "We'll get through it together, Nev. I promise."

Ginny and Harry walked over to the couple. "We'll all be right here with you, Neville. Every step of the way."

Neville looked at them gratefully, but soon his worries overtook him once again.

"I don't know what I'd do without her, I just...I can't lose her," Neville whimpered, his last words trailing off in a whisper. "Don't leave me, gran. Please."

* * *

**Please review! **


	27. 2:51 am

**So, I hope you all liked last week's cliffhanger. Sorry about that.  
**

**I want to thank the two reviewers last chapter, but since they're both guests, I'll just reply here.**

**Lily Rose: Thank you! I hope you continue reading. **

**Rose: Your question will be answered in this chapter, since it continues the last one. And don't worry, the other Weasley kids are getting their share of the spotlight later on in the fic.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**2:51 a.m.**

_2:28 am._

Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Hannah were all sitting in the waiting room of St. Mungo's, waiting for any information about Neville's grandmother, Augusta. James, Albus, and Alice were all fast asleep in baby carriers. Ginny was leaning on Harry's shoulder, softly snoring, a little drool coming out of her open mouth. Harry was somewhere between sleep and consciousness, his half-lidded eyes looking as though they would close at any minute.

Hannah's elbow rested on the armrest of the hard plastic chair, her arm holding up her head. Neville, however, was the only one not asleep. He sat up straight, his knee bouncing, a cup of coffee in his hand. The dark, tasteless liquid rippled as his hand shook.

_2:33 am. _

His grandmother was the only family he had left. If he lost her... his ties to his mother, his father, would be gone. _She_ would be gone. She had taken him in after his parents had been..._put in the hospital_ by Bellatrix Lestrange. She had been with him when he'd shown his first signs of magic. She had bought him his first wand, his first and only broomstick (which he had never ridden- he'd tripped on it as they were leaving the store and Gran returned it.)

_2:38 am. _

"She'll be fine, Nev," Hannah said softly. Maybe she'd woken up, or maybe she hadn't been asleep at all.

"Yeah," He said. "They have the best Healers here, right?"

Hannah nodded, then leaned back against his shoulder.

Sure he had been scared of her when he was little, but now, a grown man, he realized that it had all been for his own protection. She had done it all out of _love_.

She had been by his side all his life. And now...now she might leave. And nothing had ever scared him more.

* * *

_2:51 am. _

"Mr. Longbottom?" A Healer asked, walking into the waiting room. Neville shot up.

"Yes? Er- that's me, I'm Neville Longbottom, right here..." he rambled, nervous and hopeful and dreading all at once. _She has to be alright! This is the best hospital in Britain._

"I-. I'm...maybe you should sit down."

"Why? What's happened? She's alright, isn't she?" Neville asked, refusing to sit. He wanted answers, and he wanted them _now_.

"Your grandmother...she passed away last night. It was a stroke, and you did all you could. There was nothing else that you could have done. It was just her time. At least she passed away peacefully, in her sleep." The Healer's eyes teared up. Even though he was a Healer and had to deliver sad news quite often, he could never quite get used to breaking people's hearts.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Longbottom," the Healer whispered. "Is there anything I can get you?"

But Neville didn't hear the question. He couldn't hear or see anything because all ofa sudden the world spun, and Neville sank down onto the floor while he tried to shoulder his entire world collapsing around him.

He couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't _be_, not without his grandmother. She was his support, and now she was just- _gone_.

"Neville! Neville, where are you going?" Hannah cried suddenly, waking up Harry and Ginny.

Neville looked around. It seemed as though he had gotten up without noticing and was walking towards the exit. Ignoring Hannah and the others, he kept walking and went out the doors into the cool night.

It was as though the world knew what had just happened. The sky was pitch black, not a star to be seen. The only source of light was from St. Mungo's, leaving the rest of the street before him in darkness. The air was still, unmoving, as if it was in shock. No one was out and it was a silent night, perfect for mourning.

Somehow, Neville found himself on his knees in the middle of the street, breathing heavily. He could hear Hannah calling his name, but it seemed as though she was a million kilometers away, unreachable, like his Gran. And it hit him again. _She was gone_. He would never see her again. She would never hold his hand again. He would never see her smile again in that way that only she could, with the edges of her eyes crinkling and the corners of her mouth turned up.

And suddenly Hannah was next to him, weeping into his shoulder, hands tightly grasping his arm, desperately holding onto him as she tried to keep him from floating away into the still, dark night.

* * *

"I thought strokes were just a Muggle thing?" Ginny asked, wiping away her tears.

"No, they aren't. Like cancer, they affect both Wizards and Muggles," the Healer said gently.

"Should we go find Neville?" Harry asked, his voice strained.

"I think he and Hannah need to be alone for a little while," Ginny said sadly.

* * *

After some time, Hannah and Neville came back in. They silently took their seats on the plastic chairs and Hannah looked at Harry and Ginny.

"He's still in shock," she mouthed, and Harry nodded in understanding. He had seen his fair share of deaths, but this one was possibly the most heartbreaking.

"Oh, Neville!" Hermione waddled into the waiting room and hugged her best friend. He didn't register her hug, his eyes as empty as he felt.

"I'm- I'm really sorry, mate," Ron said, patting Neville on the shoulder.

"Daddy, did Gwandmum Auggy go to heaven?" Rosie asked quietly.

"Yeah, she did, Rose," Neville said, surprising them all. "She was brave, and smart, and kind, and I think that she had a full life. I hope she's happy," he finished, tearing up again.

"Neville, I remember in your first year, you didn't think you were brave, or strong, or anything," Hannah started. "But Dumbledore knew how brave you'd become. And I know you're strong enough to get through this," Hannah smiled, tears glistening in her eyes.

Neville, I …. Well, I know that before, Augusta was all you had, but I want you to know that we're all here for you. You're not alone," Harry said. "We'll help you get through this. Dumbledore told me once, 'After all, to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.'"

Neville managed a small smile.

"We certainly will-oh!" Hermione gasped, clutching her stomach. "Ron! I- I think the baby's coming!"

"What? Now?" Ron asked disbelievingly.

"Yes! He's almost two weeks overdue, it's about time!" Hermione snapped, turning to look for a Healer. Flagging one down, she yelled "My water broke! The baby's coming!"

The Healer rushed over. "Okay, m'am, I'm going to need you to relax so that I can Levitate you." He held out his wand and motioned for nurses, and soon Hermione was being taken into a room.

* * *

"Aw, he's so precious," Ginny cooed. The newborn was asleep, his face peaceful.

"We've decided on a name," Hermione said.

"What is it?" asked Harry. Neville and Hannah were watching in the back of the room.

"Hugo. It means "brightness of mind and spirit". And, we'd like Neville and Hannah to be godparents, if they want to," Hermione waved them over.

"We'd love to," Hannah smiled.

Neville looked down at the new life that he was holding in his arms. "Thank you."

* * *

**Please review, guys! It's really helpful to see what you all think is working/isn't working, and just to see your opinion on this fic! The response to this fic has been amazing already, so let's keep it going.  
**


	28. Albus' Day Out

**Thank HP-Fan-4Ever and Lily Rose for their reviews :)**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Albus' Day Out**

"No! I don't wanna go!" James cried, running away from Ginny as she tried to put a sweater vest on him. She waddled after him, her stomach very large. Lily was due in a few short months.

"But, Jamie, you have to look your best!"

"No!" He screeched.

"Isn't it a bit early for preschool, Gin?" Harry asked, coming down the stairs wearing a Muggle blazer.

"The earlier he starts, the better. And this is a very prestigious Muggle academy."

"It seems a little too strict. They have a uniform, Ginny! He's only three and he has to wear a tie. Everyday. Even _I _wouldn't be able to do that."

"Why are you arguing with me now? The interview's in half an hour! You could've objected before I scheduled it!"

"Alright... let's just see how it goes."

"Gotcha!" Ginny caught James and pulled the sweater over his head.

"Hello?" Hermione's voice rang out from the fireplace. "I'm here to watch Albus!" She came into the room. "Hi."

"Aunty 'Ermy!" James cried, unable to pronounce Hermione properly. He ran to her and held his arms up like he wanted her to carry him. She picked him up and he giggled.

"Hermione! You're wrinkling his sweater!" Ginny took James back and smoothed out the fabric.

"Where 'Oogo?" Jamie asked.

"He's with Uncle Ron and Rosie," Hermione answered.

"Jamie, go check if you have your bookbag," Ginny ordered. The school had a mandatory dress and school supply code. Even if you weren't attending and were just getting an interview you had to dress up anyway.

"How long do you expect to be?" Hermione asked.

"Well, there's quite a lot of waiting because loads of people want their kids in this program. I'd say maybe two or three hours, honestly," Harry replied. "Hope that's alright."

"It's fine…I've left Rose and Hugo with Ron... but, to be honest, I don't think this school will fit him. If he goes, he'll probably end up like Percy," Hermione whispered the last few words.

"See?" Harry said. "If _Hermione Granger_ is saying no to this education, it must be a bad idea."

"We're going, Harry. Come on, Jamie." She grabbed his hand and Disapparated.

"Sorry about that," Harry said apologetically. "With her pregnancy hormones from Lily, plus handling Albus and James alone while I was on that mission for the past two weeks has been pretty stressful for her. I'm taking the two kids out for a movie tomorrow, you know, so she can de-stress a little."

Ginny Apparated back into the room. "James is already waiting with his teacher!" she screeched. "COME ON, HARRY, WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

"You can just go up and get Albu-" Harry was cut off in mid-sentence by Ginny, who grabbed his arm.

"Bye." He and Ginny Disapparated.

"Alright, Albus, let's go to Diagon Alley," Hermione said, walking up the stairs. She found Albus playing with some toy cars in his room. "You ready to go to Diagon Alley, Al?" Hermione asked, picking him up.

"Yesh! Wet's go to Dagally!" Albus said excitedly. Diagon Alley was too complicated for his little mouth to say.

"You get bigger every time I see you," Hermione said, lifting him up with a grunt. She carried him down the stairs and put him into the stroller.

"Yay! Wet's go!" Albus said excitedly, clapping his small hands.

Hermione smiled, then pushed open the front door of the Potters' house. If Harry and Ginny would be gone for three hours, she and Albus could walk to Diagon Alley. It was a nice day, anyhow. The summer heat wasn't too humid or sticky, but pleasant.

"Are you excited to go shopping, Albus?" She asked.

"Wha' sopping?" he asked curiously, his big green eyes blinking up at her cutely.

"That's how your mummy and daddy get you toys and things at Diagon Alley. Shopping."

"Yay! Sopping!" he cried. Hermione chuckled.

They made their way down the street, past the gardening neighbors and the children playing.

"Par'! Par'!" Albus cried.

"Park?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah! Yeah!" he clapped his hands excitedly. Hermione smiled

"I guess we can stop for a few minutes." She steered the stroller towards the park.

"Sing!" he cried. Hermione lifted him out of the stroller and into the toddler swing. "Yay!" Albus clapped his hands excitedly as Hermione pushed the swing.

After spending a little more time at the park, Hermione decided that it was time to leave. And so she dragged a reluctant Albus back to the stroller and, to cheer him up, told him, "We'll get some ice cream when we go to Diagon Alley, okay?"

"Yay! Ice cweam!" he cried. "Chocwate!"

Hermione laughed again. "Yes, Albus, we'll get chocolate."

She pushed the stroller down the Muggle street and into the Leaky Cauldron. Out back, she pulled out her wand and tapped the bricks, opening the passageway.

"Dagally!" Albus exclaimed, overjoyed. He bounced in his seat, barely able to contain his excitement. Hermione, chuckling to herself, pushed the stroller through the archway and into the chattering busyness of Diagon Alley.

"Ice cweam?" Albus asked innocently.

"No, we need to go to Flourish and Blott's first," Hermione said.

Albus looked up at her. "Books?"

"Yes, books," Hermione said, laughing. She and Albus made their way down the street, waving to Neville as he helped his wife, Hannah, with the Leaky Cauldron summer rush. The old Leaky Cauldron had gotten too small, so after Hannah and Neville bought it, they expanded with another building down the street. Neville worked there in the summer to help Hannah, otherwise he'd be at Hogwarts teaching Herbology.

Hermione stopped outside the gate to the outdoor restaurant. "Hi, Hannah!"

Hannah looked up and her face immediately brightened. "Hey, Hermione." She filled up a glass for a customer and then made her way over.

"How- how's Neville been holding up?" Hermione asked, after hugging her friend.

"He's been doing okay, to be honest. I think what you all said in the hospital that night really helped him. There have been some bad days, yes, but that's to be expected," Hannah said, filling up another glass while she talked.

"And Alice?"

"She's been really good for Neville. She can always cheer him up on those bad days."

After chatting for a few more minutes, Hannah said, "I really ought to be getting back to the restaurant. Bye!"

"Bye, Hannah. You and Neville should come by sometime this weekend. It'll do Neville some good."

"Absolutely."

Hermione and Albus waved and made their way down the street once more.

"Ice cweam book!" Albus said.

"You want a book made of ice cream?" Hermione asked.

"Uh- no, tanky wu." Albus's cute way of saying thank you made her feel warm inside. She and everyone else had fought for this, this future where the children could live without fear of Dark wizards.

Hermione pushed open the door to Flourish and Blotts and breathed in the comforting smell of parchment and books.

Hermione went to her favorite section, the Wizarding History aisle. It was all so fascinating. But when she made her way to those shelves, Albus playing with a toy quietly, her mouth dropped open.

"What?" she said, dumbstruck. All of the history books were gone, replaced by large, colorful, glossy spines. _It couldn't be…._ she thought. Upon closer inspection, she read titles like _Year with the Yeti. _

Lockhart? _I thought they removed his books after he was sent to St. Mungo's! _Hermione thought angrily. He took up her whole history section!

"Come on, Albus, we need to speak with the manager," Hermione huffed. As she and Albus made her way around the shelves, a large table crammed with books caught her eye.

They were all copies of one book, and it was titled, _Lockhart- An Autobiography. _Groaning, Hermione grabbed one and turned it over, the glossy cover glinting annoyingly, just like his teeth used to.

The summary read: _After he courageously defeated the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets over fifteen years ago, Gilderoy Lockhart tragically lost his memory during the Battle, and even though he saved three students, he was sent to St. Mungo's for treatment. Last year, a miracle occurred. Lockhart regained his memories. Now, back and better than ever, Lockhart is here to share his life story- the true chronicles of the man behind the legendary smile. _

"Dat man's ugwy!" Albus shouted, pointing at Lockhart's picture.

"Now, now, I'm sure he hasn't seen the picture properly, that's all. He's only about one anyway," a voice said from the back of the room. Hermione whipped around.

"_Lockhart." _

* * *

"Why, hello, Miss Granger." Lockhart grinned, walking towards her. "And who is this sweet little boy?"

"This is my nephew, Albus. And it's Mrs. Weasley now," Hermione snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously. Lockhart seemed to notice and stepped away cautiously.

"Which Weasley did you marry? There were quite a few, I can't remember…"

"Ron."

"Surely not that imbecile!"

"Why, you-!" Hermione seemed to remember herself and her surroundings and took a deep breath, stepping back. "How could you lie again? You _know_ you didn't defeat the Basilisk, Harry and Ron did! And _they_ saved _you_! You lying, cheating, dirty little _coward_!" Hermione held up the book she had been looking at. "This whole book is a lie! All of your books are lies! _Your whole life is a lie!_" The entire store fell silent. Everyone turned to stare at Hermione and Lockhart. Albus looked on with big eyes and an open mouth.

"Tell them. Tell everyone how you've lied, and cheated, and taken credit for other people's work. How you erased the memories of the people who actually did these heroic deeds, how you've turned them into blundering _idiots_ while you stand here in the spotlight and _take credit for their brilliance_!" Hermione was beside herself with fury. Not only was this man a cheater, but he had ruined books by using them as a means to lie. He had ruined books for her, and by Merlin she was going to make him fix it, or her name wasn't Hermione Jean Granger Weasley.

"I-I-" he spluttered.

"TELL DEM!" Albus yelled. Apparently Lockhart was angering him as well. Albus threw his toy at Lockhart's face.

Lockhart stared at Hermione. Then he looked at Albus. And then he turned his head to look at the sea of people who had come into the store when they'd heard all the yelling. Lockhart looked at Hermione again. He gulped. He opened his mouth, then closed it, and opened it again. Hermione thought he resembled a fish.

"Tell them." Her voice was deadly. Lockhart glanced around the room, as if looking for an escape.

"_Tell them_," she said again. "Before, when I was just a schoolgirl, I had no power over you. But now, things have changed. I could walk right over to the Ministry and inform them of what you did. They don't take lightly to imposters, especially if the person who reports them_ has connections_," she whispered the last two words in a deadly tone. Normally she wouldn't use her "Chosen One's Best Friend and Valued High-Ranked Ministry Employee" card, but this was a special case.

Lockhart knew there was no way out. So he gulped, and opening his mouth, started to speak.

"I- I can't, Miss Gran- Weasley," he added, "The end of my career- wouldn't ever be able to show my face in public anymore-"

She gave him her best "do it or I'll unleash a multitude of hexes upon you" look, and he blanched, then gulped.

"I- I'm a big fraud," he said sadly.

* * *

"Lockhart's back?" Harry asked, reading the _Evening Prophet. _

"What?" Ginny came over.

"Here, read this."

_**Lockhart Exposed- The REAL man behind the smile. **_

_Rita Skeeter has discovered the latest scoop behind Gilderoy Lockhart, winner of the Witch Weekly Best Smile Award and of numerous other accolades. But is he really the man that his books paint him to be?_

_No, he is not. Skeeter can exclusively report that Lockhart is in fact a FRAUD. That's right, he is a giant fake. _

"_I track famous people down, people with big adventures. I go into smaller towns, yes, so I can wipe these people's memories and claim them as my own." He said, confessing to none other than Hermione Weasley, the scarlet woman who has kept herself out of the papers as of late. _

_(More on Lockhart, along with his full confession, pgs 6, 7, 8)_

"Hermione got him to confess?" Harry asked incredulously. Ginny, speechless, ran to the fireplace, Harry close behind her.

"Ron and Hermione Weasley's house!" Ginny said, throwing Floo powder into the flames. They burned green. Harry and Ginny put their heads into it and saw the living room of Ron and Hermione's house.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted.

"Oh, hi, Harry!" she said, coming into the room. "Hey, Ginny!"

"You made Lockhart confess?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, well, he was in the bookshop yesterday, and I got rather mad at him. I wrote down everything he said and gave it to Rita Skeeter. Best get her to dish up some dirt on someone we hate, for a change." Hermione grinned.

Harry was speechless.

"I never thought we'd see the day that Hermione worked with Rita Skeeter," Ginny said, shaking her head.

* * *

**So, what did you think of Rita's comeback?  
**

**And I've decided to start hinting at what the next oneshots are going to be. Get you all excited for next week's, so to speak.**

**So, here is your hint for next week's oneshot: The last time we've seen this character was with Dominique. Now they're back, and Molly has a special task: to find them a special someone.**

**See if you can guess who it's going to be about ;)**


	29. Make You Happy

**Guys, I'm really sorry I didn't post for a while. I've been really busy. But you'll get double chapters this week! Today and Friday.**

**Those who guessed this chapter will be about Charlie were correct! Thanks to all who reviewed.**

**And we want to thank Lily Rose once again, for reviewing and all of your support.**

Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.

* * *

**Make You Happy**

"So, what d'you like to do in your free time?" Charlie asked the woman sitting across from him.

The woman chomped vigorously on her gum, her luscious blond locks swinging from the force of her chews. "Well, I, like, like gossip."

_She _likes _gossip or she _like likes _gossip? _"Oh… Interesting."

"Not really." The woman examined her nails, apparently wishing for the date to be over.

"Well, where d'you work?" Charlie tried to continue the conversation.

"I don't. My daddy pays for everything." The woman pulled out a Muggle phone and started... what was it? Texting?

"Okay, thanks for meeting, but I don't think this is working," Charlie said.

"'Kay," said the woman, taking a selfie. Charlie got up wordlessly, left money on the table for dinner, and walked out of the restaurant. Even though apparently "her daddy" would cover all of her expenses, Charlie was a gentleman.

_Another date's a bust, _he thought. _Mum shouldn't make me do this. It's cruel and unusual punishment._

Lately, Molly had taken to setting Charlie up on blind dates, apparently having suddenly realized that he was the only one of her children to not be married yet.

He remembered their conversation vividly….

_Charlie walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Then a loud voice rang out. _

"_Charlie, YOU'RE NOT MARRIED! WHERE ARE YOUR BABIES?" Molly cried._

"_Aren't I too old for that now? I'm thirty-seven, mum," Charlie tried to reason. _

"_It's not too late, Charlie. You need to settle down. And I'll help!" Molly said. _

Charlie had had his fair share of crushes and a couple of relationships over the past few years, but they'd never ended up working out. And now Molly was his "personal matchmaker". Reaching a dark alley, he quickly ducked in and Apparated back to the Burrow.

Bracing himself for the explosion that was Molly Weasley's love for her kids, he pushed open the door.

* * *

"So, what's your goal in life?" Charlie asked, a little hopeful. This girl seemed better than last week's. Her name was Jill.

"I don't know, I've never really thought about it," came the reply.

"Sorry?" Charlie was a little nervous. _Seems like I spoke too soon_, he thought.

"I mean, I don't have a job yet, but I believe that it'll come to me if it's meant to be." The girl nonchalantly twisted the pasta around her fork.

"Wait, you're _thirty-six _and you don't even have a _job_ yet?" Charlie asked, disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I mean, why worry? I don't really care, my parents are really rich. If I really wanted, I could not work at all, and so could my kids, and so could their kids. And we'd be perfectly fine." She shrugged.

"But don't you want to make your own money? Be independent?"

"Eh, not really. I live with my mum and dad in our mansion anyway, why would I need to be independent?"

Charlie sighed and turned to his food, trying to end this date as quickly as possible.

_Why do I keep going on first dates with really rich people a__nd end up not liking them?_

"How many murders have you witnessed?" The girl asked suddenly.

"Witnessed, or participated in?" Charlie joked.

"Um, no. That's not funny. Bye." She got up and left. Charlie sighed. Was he really this undesirable?

* * *

"Hi," Charlie said, greeting his date and pulling out her chair for her.

"Whatever," Tracie said back, rolling her eyes. She immediately pulled out her phone and started texting.

The waiter came over. "The usual, Mr. Weasley?" He recognized Charlie from both of his past dates (failures).

"Yes, please."

"And you, ma'am?" The waiter asked politely.

"I gotta go, actually. I'm meeting another man." She got up and left the restaurant.

_That was ridiculously rude, _he thought, shaking his head.

* * *

"Dinner is served!" Chef Harry waved his hand over the assortment of dishes he had cooked. Maybe cooking for the Dursleys all those years had paid off, after all.

"Thanks, Harry," Ginny said, rubbing her stomach. The baby was due next week and she didn't feel much like doing anything.

"Yay! Food!" Jamie cried, clapping his hands. Albus, bolstered by his brother's excitement, started bouncing up and down in his seat.

Ginny suddenly grunted. "UGH!" She grabbed her stomach.

"Mummy! Wha' 'appen!" Albus asked in concern.

"The baby's coming!" Ginny shouted. Harry blanched.

"Da buh-buh's coming?" Albus shouted in return.

"Yes, buh-buh, NOW, HARRY, ST. MUNGO'S, GET ME WATER, FLOO MUM!" Ginny barked out commands. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

_Maybe she'll be better than the others, _Charlie thought hopefully.

He looked up and saw a woman walking toward him. She had an open, pretty face and sparkling brown eyes. Her chocolate brown hair fell in waves down to her shoulders and she wore a nice skirt and blouse, as opposed to the _very_ immodest attire of the other women he had met.

"Sara?" Charlie asked carefully, not expecting her to be the right one, what with his luck and all.

"Yes, that's me. And you're Charlie?" Sara asked, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, hi! It's nice to meet you," Charlie said cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you too," Sara said, shaking his hand.

After their food arrived, Sara surprisingly started up a conversation.

"So, what do you do for a living?" She asked pleasantly, cutting up her chicken.

"I work with animals." The lie came out smoothly.

"Really? How interesting! What type of animal?"

"I, er, I actually study reptiles." Charlie replied. A compromise; not a lie but not the truth either.

"Wow! That's so interesting."

Charlie gave a small laugh. "Thanks. It's very fun. And what do you do?"

"Oh, I'm a singer."

"Really? What type of music?"

They continued this type of small talk for a while, and Charlie felt that he actually liked Sara. But not as dating material…. _Maybe we can just be friends. _

Suddenly, his phone (Harry and Hermione had made everyone get one) buzzed. Looking at it, he saw that it was his mother.

"Sorry, I've got to take this. It's my mother," Charlie said apologetically, standing up. Sara smiled, understanding.

Walking away from the table, Charlie pressed the phone to his ear. "Mum? I'm on my date, what is it?"

"GINNY! BABY! _COME NOW_!" screeched Molly. She promptly hung up.

Charlie rushed back to his table and gave a quick explanation. "My sister's gone into labor. I have to go, I'm so sorry. Can I have your number? Maybe we can go out again sometime."

"Oh, of course! I don't want to keep you! Go, be with your sister," Sara smiled.

_Yeah, definitely one of the better girls,_ Charlie thought, smiling.

* * *

"GO! FASTER!" Ginny shrieked from the backseat. They couldn't Apparate or Floo with a woman in labor because of the risks they posed for babies. So, Harry was driving. With a shrieking wife in labor and two giggling, overly excited kids.

"I can't! I can't drive _through _other cars!" Harry cried.

"YES YOU CAN! YOU FLOOR THE GAS PEDAL AND DON'T STOP FOR ANYTHING, I'M IN LABOR!" Ginny yelled.

Once they got to St. Mungo's, Harry jumped out of the car and helped Ginny into a wheelchair, trusting James and Albus to follow him.

"We need a Healer, quick!" Harry said, pushing Ginny into the waiting room of St. Mungo's.

"What's happened?" A man quickly ran over.

"Healer Golliwhiskers?" Harry asked incredulously. "The bloke who delivered Louis?"

"I remember you! AHH!" He shrieked in fright. "It's the Frying Pan lady!"  
"JUST TAKE ME TO THE MATERNITY WARD SO I DON'T GIVE BIRTH IN YOUR WAITING ROOM!" Ginny yelled.

Healer Golliwhiskers, after being assured that Ginny was unarmed, pushed her down a corridor.

"Where's Mum, Harry?" she asked, squeezing his hand as another contraction passed.

"She's going to come after she tells everyone," Harry said reassuringly.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Molly announced, rushing into Ginny's room and pulling the entirety of the Weasley family behind her.

"Or right now," Harry muttered.

The nurses in the room quickly pushed out everyone but Molly and Harry.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Molly asked, stroking Ginny's sweaty forehead.

"LIKE THIS IS ALL HARRY'S FAULT AND I'M GOING TO KILL HIM ONCE THIS IS ALL OVER," Ginny yelled, glaring at Harry. Harry blushed.

"Er- sorry, Ginny. I'll make it up to you," he promised.

"DON'T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN, HARRY!" SCREAMED GINNY.

Harry blanched.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "CAN WE GET THIS BABY OUT OF ME NOW?"

* * *

"Excuse me, but only immediate family is allowed," warned the nurse at Ginny's side. Her eyes widened when there were still eight people left in the room, all clambering to see the baby. "Alright, only parents and husband, then," she said. "You lot can come in one at a time after the parents are done."

Grumbling, Ginny's five brothers left the room.

"Ginny, dear, how are- oh my! It's a girl! She's beautiful!" Arthur gushed, his fingers twitching at his sides.

Ginny smiled knowingly at Molly. "Would you like to hold her, dad?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, yes!" Arthur said excitedly, taking the baby from Ginny's arms. "What are you naming her?" he asked quietly, in awe of his new granddaughter. It hadn't even been five minutes, yet she already held his heart in her hand.

"We haven't thought about it yet, see, because we didn't want to find out if she was a boy or a girl beforehand…" Harry said. They hadn't done the scan done to check, because they wanted to be surprised.

"I want to name her Lily," Ginny said suddenly. Harry blinked.

"Sorry?" He said.

Ginny looked up at him and smiled. "I want to name her Lily," she said softly, "After your mother."

Harry smiled as he felt his eyes tear up. "Really?"

"Yes, from all I've heard about her, she sounds like she was a wonderful person. And she's your mother," Ginny added. "Her legacy should be carried on."

Harry wiped the tears from his eyes and leaned down to kiss Ginny on the forehead. "Thank you."

"Hey. How is she?" Charlie asked, making his way into the room.

The family smiled at him.

"Hey, Charlie," Ginny said. "Meet your new niece, Lily Luna Potter."

Charlie picked up the sleeping baby gently.

Looking down at the precious little baby, he realized something. He didn't _want _that. He was happy just doing his job, working with dragons. He didn't want to settle down and start a family. And Molly needed to accept that.

* * *

"So, yes, I don't _want _a family, mum," Charlie finished, trying to gauge his mother's reaction.

After the family (minus Ginny, Harry, and the latest addition) had gone home, Charlie had singled out his mother. He told her everything he was feeling, everything he was thinking, and surprisingly she hadn't yelled. She just stood there, patiently waiting for him to finish.

Molly opened her mouth. _Maybe she's kept it all bottled up and she's going to explode now_, Charlie thought, wincing.

"Charlie, I understand."

Charlie's eyes flew open. _What?_

She sighed. "I just want you to be happy. Everything I do, everything I've ever done, is to make my children happy. And if not settling down is what makes you happy, I am fine with it."

Charlie smiled and hugged Molly. "Thanks, mum. I love you."

* * *

**What did you all think?  
**

**And the preview for next week: He's heard all about the older generations' adventures, and now it's time for him to start making his own.**


	30. Legacy

**Hi, guys! **

**Those who guessed this chapter will be about Teddy were right. **

**I want to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter. We really take everything you say into account, and this story couldn't have come as far as it has without you all!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Legacy**

It was September 1, 2008, and Teddy Lupin was a giant bucket of nerves. He was excited. And nervous. A little scared too. But mostly excited because today was the day that he would finally get to go to the place his parents, Harry and Ginny, and almost all of his aunts and uncles had spent seven of the best years of their lives. Minus potions.

"Teddy! WHY AREN'T YOU READY?" Ginny screamed, and Teddy jumped in fright. He quickly grabbed his trunk and pulled it down the stairs one at a time, thumping loudly on each step.

When he got into the kitchen, he soon realized why Ginny was so stressed. She was holding newborn Lily in her arms, while James was holding onto one of her legs, and Albus, who had been sick, poor thing, was crying in his high chair, his nose red and runny.

"Sorry, Ginny. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Ginny smiled. "No, Ted, thank you. Why don't you go tell Harry we're ready to leave?"

"Sure."

* * *

"Twain! Twain!" James cried, clapping his hands. Albus managed a smile as well. Lily slept peacefully in the baby sling that Harry was wearing.

"Will you write?" Teddy asked, a flood of concerns leaping to his mind as he prepared to embark on this journey.

"Every day, if you want," Harry chuckled.

"Not every day…. Every week?" Teddy suggested, trying to regain some of his dignity.

"Sure, Ted," Harry ruffled his godson's hair.

"Does it matter what house I'm in? What if no one likes me? What if I fail all my classes?" Everything came tumbling out at once, a rare occurrence considering Teddy wasn't usually the nervous type.

"One, no, it does not, we'll still love you no matter what, although I don't know about Uncle Ron. Two, why wouldn't they like you? You're a nice kid. Three, you won't fail, because you're related to Remus, who was very smart," Hermione smiled as she and Ron weaved through the crowd, Ron also sporting a baby swing holding a cooing Hugo.

"Aunt Hermione!" Teddy grinned.

"We couldn't miss the first of our next-generation Weasleys to go off to Hogwarts, could we now?" Ron adjusted his baby sling. He and Harry glanced at the other's baby sling, as if thinking, _Mine is better._

"Well, let's not just stand here, unless you want Teddy to have to run after the train," Hermione chastised. "We should find a compartment."

As they walked, Teddy's mind drifted to what Hermione had said earlier, about his father. Would they be proud of him? And he hated thinking like this, but… it just wasn't fair that they weren't here for his first day at Hogwarts.

"Well, this is goodbye, Teddy. Just remember, it's Gryffindor or you're disowned," Ron winked.

Hermione and Ginny both hugged Teddy, and Harry shook his hand, smiling and whispering, "I'm glad I'm your godfather, Ted. Now, go and have an adventure."

* * *

Teddy stepped onto the train. Though he still felt a little guilty for thinking the way he had about his parents, he pushed that to the back of his mind and instead focused on finding some nice people to sit with.

He looked into the first compartment, full of girls who were twirling their hair and chomping on gum, reading gossip magazines. He shuddered and continued on, even when they saw him and whispered, giggling into their hands. He looked into the next compartment, which was full of what looked like people excitedly playing a trading card game. A third compartment revealed a group of blokes who looked like muscle builders, their arms as wide as pythons. Moving on, he made his way past full compartments again and again.

Near the end of the train, he spotted a compartment with a boy and two girls. They looked nice enough, so he opened the door.

"Can I sit with you? The other compartments are all full," Teddy asked, clutching his backpack nervously.

"Sure, there's room in here," one of the girls replied. The boy smiled at Teddy, so he sat down.

"I'm Kate," said the girl who had welcomed him in.

"And I'm Peter," said the boy sitting next to him.

"I'm Teddy." He looked around and noticed that the last girl hadn't said anything. She was looking down, her nose buried in a book.

Kate noticed Teddy looking and nudged the girl sitting next to her. The girl looked up, startled, and looked at Kate questioningly. Kate nodded towards Teddy and the girl's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Susan," she said, smiling. "This book is just really interesting."

"I understand," Teddy said. "Last summer, I was so into a book that I didn't come out of my room for a week. My godparents thought I was sick."

Peter opened his mouth. "What happened to your parents?"

Susan held her hand over her mouth while Kate glared at him. "Peter!"

"What?" Peter blinked cluelessly.

Kate hit him with her book. "You can't just ask people things like that!"

(Teddy watched on, amused.)

"I'm curious! And, ow!" Peter glared, holding his arm where Kate had hit him.

Now Kate turned to Teddy. "I'm so sorry about him. Honestly, Peter!" Kate glared, whacking Peter again.

"OW! Seriously, woman, stop hitting me!"

(Teddy was suddenly reminded of his Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione.)

"Honestly, Peter, no tact whatsoever," Kate muttered, shooting pointed looks at the poor boy.

* * *

"Ooh, look!" Kate pointed at the magnificent castle above them. Everyone in the boats gaped as Hogwarts came into view.

"Hey, Kate?" Peter asked.

She looked over. "What is it?"  
He reached a hand into the boat and splashed water onto her. "Ha!"

"PETER! MY SHOES!" Kate grabbed her magazine and resumed beating of Peter.

Once the boats all landed, Hagrid ushered the First-Years up to the castle.

"This way, no, not tha' way," Hagrid said, waving confused First-Years around.

Teddy couldn't keep his eyes off the castle.

At the doors, Hagrid raised a fist and knocked.

The door swung open. A very stern looking woman, her hair in a tight bun, greeted them.

"The firs' years, ma'am," Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid, I'll take them from here," Minerva smiled at him.

She's a lot more cheerful than what Uncle Ron and George said…. Teddy thought, grinning to himself.

Minerva led them into a small room off the Entrance Hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few minutes you shall walk through these doors and be Sorted. Sorting decides your House, the people with whom you will be living and learning. The four houses are Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor.

"Please wait here while I prepare the Sorting ceremony," Minerva turned around to leave when a hand was raised in the back.

"Professor, what about House Points?" a girl asked.

"After much consultation and deliberation, we have decided to remove this system, to diminish competition and improve Inter-house relations." And with that, Minerva left the room.

* * *

Teddy looked around the Great Hall in awe. The ceiling looked exactly like the night sky, with twinkling stars floating in a swirling black. For a moment he thought that they were actually sitting outside, but then he remembered what his Aunt Hermione had told him; that it had been enchanted to look that way.

And then his smile dropped. Was this where his parents had sat, everyday for seven years? Maybe they had looked at the same star he was looking at, or stood in the same spot he was standing in, or-

"Teddy! I've called your name five times already!" yelled an exasperated Kate.

"Oh, sorry, I was just..." Teddy trailed off. How did he explain?

Luckily, he didn't have to. "Anyway," said Kate, "What house d'you think you'll be sorted into? I really don't know, I think I could be in any of the houses, really, but maybe not Slytherin, because I'm not evil-" Here Teddy cut in.

"Slytherin house isn't evil."

Kate looked around and whispered, "Most of the dark wizards were in Slytherin."

"But that doesn't mean the entire house is bad," argued Teddy. "Just because some of them are bad doesn't mean they all are."

Kate stared at him. Suddenly, she grinned and said, "Hufflepuff."

Now it was Teddy's turn to stare. "Huh?"

"You're a Hufflepuff. No one else would stand up for Slytherin." Kate smiled knowingly. "You know, I think I'm a Hufflepuff too! Or maybe Ravenclaw...no, I'm not smart enough. Gryffindor? No..."

Teddy tuned out Kate and turned to Peter. "If there were a chatterbox house, she'd make it," he whispered. Peter snorted.

* * *

"Laney, Kate!" Minerva said, reading down her list. Kate almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat on before Minerva could hand it to her.

As soon as the hat touched her head, it shouted, "Gryffindor!" Kate squealed and ran over to the Gryffindor table, who cheered especially hard for their new house member.

"Lupin, Theodore!" Minerva read off.

Everyone's eyes followed Teddy as he walked down the gap between tables, swinging his arms awkwardly, then stopping.

When he got to the stool, Minerva handed him the hat and gave him a ghost of a smile. He put the heavy, dense fabric on his head and the Great Hall vanished as the hat covered his eyes, bathing everything in darkness.

"Well, who do we have here? Ah, Teddy Lupin. I remember your father. Very bright, but so nervous. You're a werewolf, correct?"

Teddy gulped. "No, sir. My father was, though."

The hat chuckled. "Now, you don't have to call me sir. You're very polite, kind too. Maybe Hufflepuff? But all those smarts you inherited from your father, so Ravenclaw? Although he was in Gryffindor...and you would flourish there...but your mother was in Hufflepuff..."

"I want to be nice to people. I want to do well in school. And I want to be brave like my parents." Much to his surprise, Teddy was confessing his deepest feelings to a hat.

"I suppose you'd do well in…. HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted the word out to the entire hall and it erupted into applause. Teddy took off the hat and shakily made his way to the Hufflepuff table. He hadn't even realized he was nervous about the Sorting until it had happened.

The Hufflepuff table smiled warmly and clapped for Teddy as he stood up and walked towards them.

Someone stood up. They looked like a fifth year. He shook Teddy's hand and said, "Welcome to Hufflepuff."

* * *

"I'm glad we're both in Hufflepuff," Teddy said to Peter as they made their way away from Great Hall and toward the kitchen entrance.

"I'm glad I'm away from my cousin. She's always hitting me with her magazines." Peter rubbed the bump on his head. Teddy laughed.

Suddenly the group came to a stop. The first years watched in awe as one of the Prefects took out her wand and tapped a group of barrels in a certain order and rhythm. One of the barrels opened, revealing an earthy passage. The house clambered into the upward-sloping tunnel, which was warm and smelled faintly of rosemary and lemon ginger tea.

Soon, the tunnel opened into a round, low-ceilinged room that was decorated with heaps of plants. Some of them even waved! The color scheme was black and yellow, and the overall impression was of a bumbling bumblebee. Teddy smiled. It looked very nice and cozy and he could imagine spending part of the next seven years of his life in this room.

There were two round doors set in the wall in front of him, the one on the right labeled 'Boys' and the other 'Girls'.

"You may go up to your dormitories, as I'm sure you all are quite tired after your journey today. Breakfast is at seven o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. You'll find that all of your luggage has been brought to your beds." The second- through seventh-years disappeared behind the doors, but the Prefect kept the first-years back. She smiled and added, "Don't be scared, be happy, because this is the beginning of a wonderful chapter in your lives. You'll all be fine and you can write your parents whenever you'd like. And remember," she said, her eyes twinkling, "have fun."

* * *

"I'm stuffed. I think I'm just going to go to sleep."

"Me too," Peter said, rubbing his stomach. The two friends followed the rest of the Hufflepuff boys past the door and up the stairs.

Peter looked around, then whispered, "You never did tell me, what happened to your parents?"

Teddy's stomach lurched as he was brought back to his earlier thoughts. "They died in the war."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Peter said, looking down.

"It's fine," Teddy said, because he'd gotten over his parents' death long ago. But… then why did he still feel this way?

* * *

Teddy lay in his bed, his hands behind his head, thinking. Suddenly he got up, put on his shoes, and walked silently out of the dorm. He dodged behind pillars and ducked under statues, avoiding Mrs. Norris as she prowled the dark corridors.

When he reached the Great Hall, he tiptoed out of the door into the Entrance Hall and briskly made his way to the front door, pushing it open, wincing as the wood groaned.

Once out in the cool, dark night, Teddy half-walked, half-ran down the path. Up ahead was what he needed to go to. The memorial. The white marble shone in the darkness like a lighthouse guiding him.

Teddy slowed down his pace as he drew closer and closer to the building. He pulled open the marble door, which glided smoothly out. Pulling out his wand, he whispered, "Lumos!" and the tip of the cypress wood ignited.

Teddy crept into the memorial, his wand lighting the way as he searched for two particular portraits. Halfway down the memorial he stopped and turned. It was as though the entire world had stopped. Right in front of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin.

He looked up at his mother and placed a hand on her face. Her hair was a bright bubblegum pink and he smiled at her color choice. He made his hair the same shade of pink as his mother.

Looking at his father, Teddy saw the familiar brown eyes that he himself saw in the mirror everyday. His father had bags under his eyes and his face looked tired, but there was a light in his eyes that could only come from feeling alive. And Teddy swore to himself that he would do all that he could to feel that way, too.

Stepping back, Teddy admired his parents together, as one. One was night and the other was day, one was black and the other white. But they worked. And Teddy promised them that he would make them proud.

He would carry on their legacy.

* * *

**So, what did you all think? Please review with your opinions- we read and take every single one into account.  
**

**And, next week's hint: Stuck in the snow that evening, they'll need something to pass the time- maybe relieving some memories?**


	31. Memories

**Hi guys! I'm really sorry I forgot to post again, I've just been really busy.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. And there's another Gravity Falls joke in here somewhere, so I don't own that either.**

* * *

**Memories**

"No, Rosie, you can't eat that!" Ron cried, chasing after their almost-three-year-old daughter. He grabbed the quill and stashed it in his pocket.

"I wan' birdy!" Rose demanded.

"Ron! Hugo burped up his milk again and it's your cleaning day!" Hermione came into the room, holding a baby covered in spit-up

"One minute, 'Mione!" Ron said. "Switch?"

Hermione nodded. "Switch." She handed Hugo over to Ron, who passed a now crying Rosie to her mother.

Ron brought Hugo into the kitchen to clean him up first. He was cooing to himself, apparently not noticing the mess that covered his onesie.

Ron turned on the faucet and wet a washcloth. He'd probably have to give Hugo a bath later, but he'd clean him up enough to tide him over so he could clean the kitchen before it started to smell.

There was a tapping at the window. A tawny owl was rapping the glass impatiently.

Expertly holding Hugo with one hand, Ron opened the window and grabbed the letter. He ripped the cord off with his teeth and flattened the parchment on his knee, simultaneously washing Hugo's face. Hugo whimpered.

"'Mione!" Ron turned and yelled.

"What is it?"

"Mum's throwing a Christmas Party!"

"OH NO!" Hermione cried tragically as Hugo and Rose both burst into tears. With all of the new babies, family members, and friends who also had babies, Christmas at the Burrow was going to be _hell_.

* * *

"No, Jamie, don't!" Ginny managed to grab the vase before it toppled to the floor. James giggled and zoomed into the kitchen.

"Woah, there!" Harry picked up his son to prevent further damage. "What's gotten in to him?"

"It's the holidays. Hermione says her kids are like this too." Ginny rubbed her head and sighed. "They don't even know what Christmas is about and yet they've been infected by the holiday spirit.

"Oh, by the way, your mum's invited us to a Christmas party," Harry said, holding a piece of parchment out of reach of a grabby Jamie.

"NOOOOO!"

* * *

Vic and Dom both sat at their tea table, sipping tea from plastic teacups.

"How much longer do I need to be here?" Dom asked, rolling her eyes as much as a six and a half year old could.

"Until Mrs. Cinnamon Camomile Penelope says the tea party is over," Vic said, wearing her princess costume. "Waiter Louis, where are my biscuits?"

Louis came in grinning, his face covered in crumbs. "I ate 'em," he said, his mouth full.

"MY BISCUITS!" Vic shrieked, grabbing her fairy wand. "Louis, I'm coming for you!" She ran towards her brother, brandishing the fairy wand threateningly. She rapped him on the arm sternly.

"AHH! MUMMY!" Louis yelled, running down the stairs.

Meanwhile, Fleur and Bill were washing the dishes, balancing a huge stack of plates to be washed on the edge of the counter. Bill had just had a corporate dinner in their home.

"MUMMY! DADDY! VIC IS CWAZY!" Louis ran into the kitchen and hid behind Bill. Vic came running in and saw Louis. She made a beeline towards him and knocked into Bill's legs. The two ran into the sitting room as the dishes fell, shattering on the seashell patterned floor.

"I think we should just go to mum's Christmas party and leave the kids there forever," Bill said.

"I agree," Fleur sighed.

* * *

"Welcome, everyone, welcome!" Molly greeted, opening the door. Her entire family flooded in, creating a bottleneck. It took twenty minutes just for everyone to get through the front door, and then even more time to put away all their jackets and scarves and boots. Neville, Hannah, and Alice were a bit overwhelmed by the numbers of people crammed into this cozy house, but that was normal.

The sitting room of the burrow had a large, magnificent tree complete with fairy lights. A fire was crackling merrily. Tinsel was strewn around the room festively.

Molly, fed up with waiting for everyone, went back into the kitchen to put the finishing touches on her dinner.

Eventually Audrey noticed that Molly was nowhere to be seen. Breaking away from the rest of the family, she walked into the kitchen to find Molly frantically running around, looking for ingredients and pointing her wand at the stove.

"Molly? What's the matter?"

"I forgot to make the sauce for the turkey! And everyone's here! Oh dear, oh dear-"

Audrey cut her off. "Here, Molly, let me help. I'll cut everything up, alright?" Molly stopped running around and smiled, relieved.

"Yes, thank you, that would be wonderful." Molly accepted the help gratefully.

* * *

"Mum, that was delicious," Ron said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his full stomach.

"As you always say after we come for dinner here, Ronald," Hermione smiled. It was Christmas and hard for anyone to stay mad for long.

Arthur stood up. "Let me go start the fire for you all to Floo back."

"Can we play in the snow?" Molly asked, her eyes watching the large flakes fall. "Please, grandad?"

"No, it's much too cold," Molly, her grandmother, replied sternly.

"I doubt we'll be able to open the door," Harry was standing at the door in question, looking through the window. "The snow is coming down pretty hard."

"How much?" Ginny also stood up.

"A lot."

"Bad news," Arthur returned into the room. "Floo's down."

"That never happens," Teddy muttered.

"It's because of the snow and wind, most people's chimneys are blocked by at least half a meter, maybe more," Arthur continued.

Percy chimed in. "And I'm guessing the roads will be blocked as well."

"We can't Apparate, not with the kids," Hermione said slowly.

"Wha' 'bout potkey?" Albus asked, blinking as he tried to pronounce the word.

"If we don't want to be arrested for an unauthorized Portkey, we'd need Ministry permission- definitely not happening now," Bill said.

"Which means," Vic started.

"YOU CAN STAY THE NIGHT!" Molly cheered, waving her apron happily.

* * *

The dusty trundle beds and ancient sleeping bags were rolled out, the pyjamas were put on, the teeth were brushed, the multiple families were assigned to different rooms, and one last cup of cocoa was handed out before bed. Then everyone gathered in the family room for one last story before bed.

Molly and Arthur, sitting in two of the armchairs, shared a look and watched as their family figured out seating and climbed over one another to get comfortable (mostly the toddlers, except George and Ron did fight each other for the chair closest to the fire- George won).

Molly sighed and blew across the top of her mug, slightly cooling the warm brown liquid inside. The adults had claimed the couches, armchairs, and two loveseats, except for Ron, who had somehow ended up on the floor with all the children.

"Uncle Won! Tell a 'tory!" Albie demanded.

"A story? Well..." Ron was often regarded as the best Weasley storyteller by the younger cousins, because of his ability to spin the tales into wild proportions, often making himself out to be a huge muscled hero who would defeat all of the villains singlehandedly.

"Let me tell you the story of when I defeated twenty Death Eaters singlehandedly!" Ron started out with gusto, and Hermione, Ginny, George, and Bill simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"So, there I was, helping an old woman cross the street when a huge Muggle bus came barreling towards me. I picked the old lady up and put her safely on the side of the street, then stopped the bus with my bare hands and super strength!"

"Yay!" clapped Albus, James, Rose, and Fred. Vic and Teddy glanced at each other knowingly.

"And how did everyone else on the street react when you stopped a bus with your bare hands?" Teddy asked, smirking. The adults snickered.

"One lady came up to me and kissed my biceps," Ron said. Hermione glared.

"Before we were married, honey!" He called to her. "Let me finish. So after I stopped the bus with my bare hands, ten Death Eaters Apparated in. One of them shot a spell at the old woman, so I tackled him while blocking the spell with a water bottle!"

"Ooh!" the toddlers cried. Alice was covering her mouth as though she was watching a thrilling, suspenseful action film. She tried to take Albus' hand, but he squirmed away. Hermione noticed and glanced at Ginny, who grinned back.

"Then, I picked up six of them and tossed them straight into-"

"Alright, who wants to hear a funny story about something more true?" Hermione quickly interrupted.

"Yay! 'Tory!" Jamie clapped. "Maybe one where you swimmed with the sharkies like Uncle Ronnie?"

"It's swam, not swimmed," Percy corrected automatically. Ginny and George simultaneously threw pillows at him and Percy ducked, using Audrey as a shield.

"Anyway," Hermione continued, rubbing her hands together, "when Uncle Harry, Uncle Ron, and I were first years at Hogwarts, we fought a troll."

The children all gasped, even Teddy and Victoire. Harry and Ron smirked at each other.

"On Halloween night, Ron made me cry." Here she gave Ron a pointed look. Ron held up his hands defensively. She winked at him. "He made fun of me so I went crying to the out-of-order bathroom. I was in one of the stalls when suddenly, I heard a massive grunt. I looked out from under the stall and there were two giant green feet there!" Hermione spread her hands apart to show just how big the feet were. The toddlers gasped, hooked on this dangerous story.

"Just then, Harry and Ron came running in." Hermione lowered her voice. "I think Ron cried a little," she whispered conspiratorially. The kids laughed. "The troll saw me and lifted its club, about to swing, but then Harry did the silliest thing I've ever seen him do- and he's done lots of silly things."

"Hey!" Harry said. Everyone looked at him and Harry smiled sheepishly. "Okay, you're right. Except maybe the one time I went after Voldemort."

Hermione continued. "Anyhow, he jumped onto the troll's back and stuck his wand up its nose!" Now even the adults were on the edges of their seats, listening intently, though they'd heard the story before.

"As Harry had his wand up the troll's nose, Ron used a charm that we had learned earlier that day- the levitation charm- I was so proud!- and he levitated the troll's club over its head and hit the troll with it. It swayed from side to side and finally- PLOP!- fell to the ground. Harry crawled off the troll and there were troll bogies on his wand." Hermione scrunched up her face and all the children looked disgusted as well.

"Hey, remember the time Teddy ran around screaming 'GRAPPLING HOOK'?" Audrey asked. "And then he concussed Ron and knocked him off the wedding altar?"

Teddy blushed crimson and his hair changed color to match it. He looked like a tomato. The family burst out laughing.

"Look! It's Teddy the Tomato!" Dom cried, sniggering.

The entire family rolled around in their seats as Teddy tried to switch his hair back and it changed to neon pink.

"I've got one," Bill announced, the remnants of his chuckles fading. Everyone turned to look at him. "This is from when we were kids. Ron had just walked down the stairs when he tripped over one of Fred and George's inventions. He fell pretty hard and started mumbling random things. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but I remember hearing something about a unicorn made entirely of apricots."

Meanwhile, Ron was not listening to Bill's story as he relived the hallucination he had experienced. Right before he fell down the stairs, Fred and George had caused a huge cloud of smoke that smelled really weird. They were trying to make the early versions of the Skiving Snackboxes. Ron had guessed that the combination of the gas and the head trauma led to his hallucination. He remembered it vividly.

_He opened his eyes, his head pounding. Owwww….he thought. Where am I? He was lying on something hard… but everything was blurry…._

_Suddenly, his vision cleared and he could see everything. And how wonderfully magical everything was…._

_The road was a giant rainbow, the glitter sparkling in the sun. The rainbow road stretched as far as Ron could see. Above him were pink clouds the size of the sun. They were so fluffy! Ron wanted to eat one._

_But wait, what was that down by the trees of life?_

_"A UNICORN!" Ron shouted. "MADE OF APRICOTS! THE SECOND BEST FRUIT AFTER PINE TREES! I WANNA EAT IT!" Ron ran down the rainbow bridge, the twinkle birds flying over his head, singing "It's a Small World"._

_"UNICORN! I NEED IT!" Ron shouted, grabbing his glitter-confetti gun and shooting it at the neon pink turtles that littered the rainbow bridge. But soon Ron reached the Big Ben, the magnificent tower of majesticness, and it made Ron's heart beat at the allegretto. Suddenly he saw a thing, something so resplendent it made Ron cry tears of joy._

_It was a box of Q-tips. But each Q-tip jumped out of the box and started dancing to salsa music, each one holding a plush rabbit as it danced. Ron forgot all about the apricorn and made his way towards the Q-tips. But then a giant possum jumped into the scene._

_"DON'T STEAL OUR SWEETBREADS!" Ron screeched. Soon, a giant clay jar came barreling into the scene._

_He was evil. He wanted to steal all of the squirrels' jelly and candy canes!_

_"Not today!" Ron screamed. He grabbed his cake mix and charged at the giant clay jar, screaming, "FOR MARINA!"_

_"You think you can defeat me with that pitiful excuse for bread?" the jar cackled._

_"NO SIR, I HAVE THIS CINDERBLOCK COLORED ATTACK CAT. ATTACK, CAT!" Ron screeched, releasing the whirlwind of feline fury._

_"AHH! NO! MY STREET LIGHTS!" the jar cried, slowly breaking apart into terracotta pieces of death._

_"GOODBYE, CRUEL WORLD! Oh, and, Ron, make sure you try that new mascara. It's to die for."_

"Ron! Ron, wake up!" Bill slapped him across the face.

"I didn't eat it!" Ron cried with a start, jumping.

"What happened?" Arthur asked, trying to hide his grin. "You started talking about dancing Q-tips and a clay jar…."

Ron groaned. He'd been recounting his hallucination aloud? What a nightmare!

"Um, uh…. Fred and George drugged me when I was nine!" he blurted out sheepishly. The entire family burst out laughing.

"I have a sad- well sad-happyish one," Neville chimed in.

"Okay, sure," Harry said, looking at his friend seriously.

"Well… I kind of wanted to share this with you all anyway," Neville said.

Teddy, tactfully realizing that this was more for the adults, turned on the old radio, tuning it to the children's' station. The kids crowded around the radio, effectively forgetting about Neville's story.

"After my gran died, I felt alone. Of course I did, because she was all I had left of my parents for so long. She raised me as her own child. And, to tell you all the truth, I was really lost after her death.

"It wasn't bad all the time. When I was with Hannah and Alice I felt almost whole again. But then a small part of me would be reminded of something that Gran did, and I remembered my loss all over again.

"There were some days I didn't want to do anything. I put up the act that I was fine, but really, I wasn't. My world felt dark and cold. I felt broken." Everyone was hanging on to every single word, because most of them had felt this way before.

"It was really hard at first. But then, I realized, that Gran loved me because I was strong. And I knew I had to be really strong to get myself out of this. Like my parents were. I needed to be strong for myself, for Hannah, and for Alice. And, I guess I was." Neville smiled, his eyes a little watery. "I've never told anyone that, except Hannah. But now you all know. Because I trust you."

Audrey wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "Oh, Neville!" She, along with most of the women, and George, went to hug him.

After everyone sat down, Molly said, "Okay, okay, I have a nice story. It's a good right-before-bed story."

Teddy turned off the radio and, when the kids protested, pointed to Molly. The children's eyes lit up. They loved their Grandma Molly's tales because the stories always gave them warm fuzzy feelings inside. Even the adults gave the matriarch their full attention, and Molly glanced at Arthur before continuing.

"One summer night, I woke up to crying. It sounded like it was coming from Ginny's room, so I went to see what was wrong. But apparently I wasn't the only one who'd heard, because sitting with Ginny on her bed were George, Fred, Ron, and Percy. Charlie and Bill weren't living at home anymore, they were both at their jobs, doing their own things."

Here Arthur took over. "Molly came and called me, and we both went back to Ginny's room. From what we gathered, Ginny had had a nightmare about Hogwarts, for she was starting her first year that September.

"Ron was speaking at the moment, and he told her, 'I felt the exact same way, but look at me now. I met my first friend on the train, maybe that'll happen to you too.' Ginny smiled at him."

Molly jumped in. "Then Percy told her, 'You'll be a lot more popular than I was during my first year. I was that shy kid with the big, nerdy glasses. No one talked to me. But look at you, Ginny, you're bold, and smart, and you're not afraid to go after what you want. You'll be just fine.'

George and Fred looked at each other, and Fred started. 'We'll look out for you, Ginny, won't we George?' George agreed."

Arthur finished. "They all gave Ginny a hug and a kiss on the head, and waited with her until she fell back asleep. Molly and I ran back to our room so they wouldn't know we were there...although the know now, I suppose."

Ron, George, and Percy were all red in the face, embarrassed at having been caught doing something nice for their sister. Ginny had tears in her eyes, for she had never forgotten that night, but the retelling of it had made the memory fresher. She got up and hugged each of her brothers in turn. Everyone smiled, and then Molly broke the spell by saying, "Time for bed!"

All the children groaned and the adults chuckled. "How about you all stay for the rest of break?" Molly suggested. The kids all immediately jumped up and down, saying, "Can we? Can we? Can we?" Harry looked at the other adults, who gave him smiles and nods, and he looked down at the children.

"Yes. Of course we can."

After this, there was no way for the children to be convinced to go to sleep because of their excitement, so the entire family stayed up, playing games, talking, and slowly falling asleep, one by one.

* * *

**What did you think of the Weasleys' memories? Review with your opinions!  
**

**Next week's chapter's a big one- it affects one of the characters in a way that will last for years to come. Stay tuned! **


	32. Loving You

**Hi everyone. Thanks again for all of your reviews and follows. **

**This is the "big" chapter I mentioned last week, so hope you all like this one!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Loving You**

"Bill! Can 'ou call the kids? Eet ees time for lunch!" Fleur called from the kitchen.

"Sure!" Bill went to the front door. "Kids! Time for lunch!"

"Coming, papa!" Victoire yelled, and then the three children came running through the door. They had been building playing in the snow, and they were covered by it.

"You cheeldren are dripping water everywhere!" Fleur said, shaking her head as she set plates down in front of them. "Dry yourselves off more next time!"

"It was Louis and Dom! They got me all messy!" Vic said.

"Alright, now wash up, we need to eat," Bill chastised.

"Can we go to Grandmum's house?" Dom asked. Ever since their story-telling weeklong stay at the Burrow last month, the kids wouldn't stop talking about visiting again.

"Maybe this weekend. Now eat your peas, they're good for you." Bill spooned a heap of green peas onto each of his children's plates.

"Aww," groaned Louis, but Bill gave him a glare and he quickly shoved a few peas into his mouth.

"Good." Bill smiled.

* * *

"Goodnight, daddy," Rosie said, closing her eyes.

"'Night, Rosie-flower," Ron shut the door quietly, turning off the light. A wailing from the other room caught his attention. It was Hugo.

Since it was Wednesday, Hermione was still at the office, so Ron made his way into the nursery, where Hugo was whimpering. A strong stench permeated the air.

"Oh, Hugo, why couldn't you wait for mummy to come home?" Ron groaned. He picked up the baby, and sure enough, his nappy was full. Extremely.

As soon as Ron picked up his son, he stopped crying and smiled at his daddy. Ron grinned back. Who could refuse such a cute face?

"OK, Hugo, let's see." He put the baby down onto the changing table and pulled open the nappy drawer. It was empty.

"Uh-oh," Ron muttered. He tried to remember where Hermione put the spare diapers- she was always prepared.

"Um… the garage!" He picked up Hugo, who was cooing to himself, and went down the stairs into the basement. Crossing the cold hardwood floor, he pulled open the door to their garage and turned on the light.

"Nappies, nappies… Hugo, help me find them, or you're gonna be a poop-butt forever." He searched throughout the entire garage, and found a box of nappies.

"Yes!" He opened it and his face fell. The nappies had the Holyhead Harpies logo on them.

"Oh, Hugo, I can't make you wear this!" Ron struggled between loyalty to the Chudley Cannons or having a baby who smelled like poop.

The loyalty won out and he trudged back upstairs. There had to be some nappies somewhere, right?

Halfway up the staircase, Hugo scrunched up his face and suddenly he became heavier. The stench grew.

"Ugh! Hugo!" The baby giggled. As Ron examined the baby, the straps on the nappy came looser and looser from the weight of the excrement. The poop was going to explode.

Ron ran into the nursery just as the diaper collapsed under the weight and the horrid smell filled the room.

"Ahh!" Ron placed Hugo on the table and quickly wiped the baby's bottom. Pulling out his wand, he muttered, "_Scourgify_!" the mess vanished, but not the smell.

_Hermione's never gonna leave me alone with the baby again_, Ron thought wildly. Suddenly, something wet hit the back of his head. Hugo was peeing!

"Oh, no!" Ron grabbed the first thing in his reach and covered Hugo to stop the flow. Ron sighed in relief as the pee stopped.

Ron pulled the cloth off of Hugo and looked at it a little more closely. Then his heart stopped.

It was Hermione's dress. But not just any dress- her favorite dress, the one she wore to Harry and Ginny's wedding.

"Hi, Ron!" Hermione said cheerfully. Ron's heart stopped again.

"Hi, 'Mione! I was just changing Hugo and realized we're out of diapers! I'll go buy some!" Ron tried to escape, but Hermione stuck out her arm.

"Why is my dress on top of Hugo? And why is it YELLOW?"

Ron gulped.

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!"

* * *

Percy and his family had gone to George's house, to visit. Audrey and Angelina were sitting out on the deck, talking, while Percy and George were in the kitchen, getting lunch ready (Audrey and Angelina were big feminists).

"You got the curry?" George asked.

"Yes, and do you have the naan?" Percy held up two bowls of malai kofta and saag paneer. Audrey was a huge cultural food enthusiast.

"Yeah, although I don't really understand why people dip the bread into this curry thing. Usually you spread it onto the bread."

"It's not _jam_, George," Percy shook his head.

"I _know_, Percy," George said, sticking out his tongue, thinking _No I don't_.

Percy shook his head knowingly and continued to ready the food.

* * *

"Is everyone buckled in, Ted?" Ginny turned around to look at a squirming Jamie, a "reading" Albie (more like looking at the pictures) and a sleeping Lily. Teddy gave her a thumbs up. He was staying with them for the remainder of the Christmas holidays.

"Okay, let's go." For the past two weeks, Harry had been on a secret, classified mission. So important he couldn't tell Ginny who he was hunting. But she was fine. Not worried at all. Except at night when she lay awake thinking of whether or not he was alright. Except when she was work all day, completely out of the loop, not knowing what was happening. Except when she was sitting by herself at night, after the kids had gone to sleep, thinking of having to bring them to his funeral, and she herself standing alone, without his strong arms to comfort her… No, she was fine!

They were off to the grocery store. Ginny nervously turned on the car. No matter how long she'd been driving, she'd never truly get used to it. Brooms were better.

She turned out of their driveway and drove down the street, taking a left onto the main street. It was bustling with cars. It was a Wednesday so everyone had somewhere to be. Ginny switched on the turn signal and headed across town to their usual grocery store. Jamie was singing a nursery rhyme at the top of his lungs. She gritted her teeth, tensing up as the traffic grew more congested.

Reaching the grocery store parking lot, she was about to turn left when a giant truck cut her off, horns blaring. It barely missed hitting their car, grazing by a centimeter away. If the truck had showed up one second later, their car would've been hit.

All of Ginny's anxiousness and worries spilled out before she could stop them. "WHAT THE $!#% YOU GIANT- %&amp;#^%$! Go to hell!" She quickly turned into the parking lot and turned off the car.

"What the $!#%! Let's go to hell!" Jamie started chanting. "What the $!#%! What the $!#%!"

Ginny's heart stopped. "Oh, &amp;*%#."

Jamie repeated. "Oh, &amp;*%#."

Teddy burst out laughing as Ginny slumped in her seat.

"No, Jamie, we don't say that word!" Ginny tried to repair the damage before it got out of control, or even worse, _Molly_ heard him.

"#%*&amp; you!" Jamie cried, clapping his hands in delight.

"I didn't even say that one!" Ginny said. She looked at Teddy, whose hair turned red.

"Teddy! We'll discuss _your_ swearing later. How do I stop Jamie from doing… whatever that is?" Jamie had started kicking his feet against the seat, clapping to the rhythm of every swear word Ginny had ever heard (and even some she hadn't).

"Mawy had a little %&amp;#, little *#^&amp; , little %$^&amp; , Mawy had a little &amp;#^&amp; with !^&amp;# as #&amp;^! as # !$!" he sang.

Ginny groaned and covered her ears.

"Um, Ginny, there's something you should see…" Teddy said uncertainly.

A silvery lynx was trying to get into their car. It was tapping at the window impatiently. Ginny pressed the switch and the window rolled down. The animal flew in gracefully.

_"Harry has been injured. He's in St. Mungo's. Please come immediately, I am not sure how serious it is."_ Kingsley's voice faded away.

Everything slowed down as Ginny tried to process what had happened. _Harry… injured… St. Mungo's…. I knew this would happen..._  
"Aunt Ginny! We need to go!" Surprisingly, Teddy was the one who was remaining calm.

"Right." Ginny blinked twice. Harry needed her.

* * *

"What room is Harry Potter in?" Ginny asked breathlessly. She had run out of the car as soon as she had gotten to St. Mungo's, holding Lily's carrier in one hand and pushing Albus's stroller in the other. Teddy trailed behind them, holding James' hand so he wouldn't run off.

"Room three-oh-four," said the nurse at the front desk, and Ginny let out a quick thank you.

" ^%# you!" Jamie cried as they sped down the hall to the lifts. Ginny pressed the button, but the lift was taking its own sweet time. Ginny, impatient, pressed the button again and again until it cracked.

She dashed into the lift as soon as the doors opened and pressed the button for the third floor. Ginny tapped her foot impatiently as the rest of the people got in, and then waited for them to push their buttons as well. This was taking too long, and meanwhile, Harry was lying in a bed, possibly gravely injured, while she was stuck in a damn lift!

"Huwwy the %^!&amp; up!" James screeched. Everyone on the lift gave him a shocked look, and Teddy blushed. He specifically remembered saying that when he took the kids out for ice cream last weekend. Ginny, however, was too far gone to notice.

Luckily, the next floor was the third, so she dashed out and ran down the hall, looking for Harry's room. She found it and burst through the door, startling everyone inside.

Harry was lying on the bed, looking deathly pale, his arm and head bandaged and his leg in a cast, suspended from the ceiling. His face was covered in cuts and bruises and suddenly, it was all too much for Ginny, and she collapsed into the chair next to Harry's bed, sobbing.

Teddy, realizing that this was probably not a good situation for the children to be in, took them back downstairs to the food court.

Meanwhile, Ginny was still crying and Kingsley was patting her back, trying to soothe her. Nothing was working, however, and soon the Healer asked Kingsley to take Ginny out of the room.

"She's too loud and it's not good for Mr. Potter to be disturbed. He needs his sleep," the Healer explained.

Kingsley took Ginny out of Harry's room and sat her down in one of the blue plastic chairs in the hallway. "I know you're upset, Ginny, but you need to calm down. Harry needs his sleep to get better, and you have your children to think about too."

"You're right," Ginny blubbered, wiping her eyes. "Okay, I'm alright now," she said. "Wait, where are the kids?"

"Teddy took them down to the food court- something about not wanting them around you while you were crying."

Ginny had never been more grateful to Teddy. She went to join her family in the food court below.

"Oh, Ginny, it'll be alright," Molly swept her daughter into her arms.

"How's Harry?" George asked, simultaneously wiping a curry stain off his shirt and staring at Ginny.

"I don't know, they didn't tell me anything!" she said, some of her previous hysteria returning.

"Don't worry, Ginny, he should be fine," Percy chimed in. "Although, we don't know how he was injured…"

Ginny blanched, then stormed out of the food court and back up to the third floor and down to Harry's room. Kingsley was sitting outside, and Ginny poked him in the ear.

"I want to know, how did Harry get injured?" Ginny asked sternly.

"I'm terribly sorry, Ginny, but that is classified, for your own safety, and-" Kingsley was cut off by Ginny grabbing the collar of his robes.

"If you value _your_ safety, you're going to tell me right now," Ginny said, deathly quiet.

Kingsley gulped. Ginny let go of him, and he brushed off his robes. "Well, see… you might want to sit down."

Ginny glared at him. He gulped again and continued. "It was in Bulgaria. The man we were trying to catch was… it was almost like Voldemort was back, Ginny,"

Ginny's stomach dropped. "Spill. Everything. And _no _secrets, Kingsley. I'd hate to have to curse you."

"He was going around, doing the Muggle killings, same as Voldemort. But the real red flag was he was replicating the same murders that Voldemort started out with. This man killed his mother's brother, then his Uncle, and then a family with the surname 'Jones' with three children- he was replicating everything Voldemort did."

"What was his name?" Ginny asked, now almost completely terrified.

"He calls- well, called- himself 'the Enigma'." The name caused shivers to run down Ginny's spine.

"So, what happened to Harry?" she whispered.

"We tracked him to a little Muggle village. He pulled out his wand and we jumped out of our covers to try to stop him before he could kill anyone else.

"Harry was closest. The Enigma didn't see us, and he- he pointed his wand at this little family with two babies. Harry pushed them out of the way just as the Enigma shot a spell- we still haven't checked his want to find out what he used.

"There was a massive explosion. I believe Harry used a shield charm, so he avoided the worst bit of the blast, but…. he's here now."

_Oh, Harry_. "What happened to the Enigma?"

"He died in the blast as well."

"At least he's dead," Ginny sighed. "He won't be able to hurt anyone anymore."

* * *

The Healer walked out of Harry's room.

"Can we go in now?" Ginny asked, jumping up.

"Yes, but be gentle. He's still a bit shaken up from the whole ordeal."

Ginny nodded, then rushed to open the door. "Harry?" She asked, quietly.

Harry blinked, then turned to look at her. He smiled. "Hey, Gin," he said softly, opening his arms.

Ginny hugged him, but it was too much for her and she started crying. "I thought- I thought you were _dead_," she sobbed, gripping him tighter. "I had images of your funeral, and I was standing alone, and you weren't there next to me and- and-"

Harry cut her off. "I'm right here, Ginny," he said soothingly, rubbing her back.

"Yeah, but you might not be, because of your stupid hero complex!" She glared at him as he smiled.

"I guess I really do have one," he said.

"Yeah, and since the Enigma died, you're going to go around thinking what you did was really good and you're gonna go do it again!" She started laughing despite the situation.

Harry started laughing, then winced.

"Okay, don't laugh, just sit still." Ginny brought him a glass of water.

"Did they say how badly you're injured? Mum and the rest of the family are desperate for news."

"No, you'd have to ask the Healer."

"Are you going to be okay if I go to bring the family up and then we'll find out how you're doing?"  
"I'm not a baby, Gin," Harry grumbled.

"Yes, you are. Now stop complaining," Ginny said. Harry stopped complaining. Ginny smiled and was about to leave the room. _He's alive. And that's all that matters._

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO WALK?" Ginny and Molly both yelled, shocked and scared.

The Healer winced. "Well, you see, he took quite a nasty fall when the Enigma's spell collided with his Shield Charm. He broke his leg in several different places, not to mention that he also broke his femur bone. And his ribs, too. That's a nasty one. It can take weeks, even months to set it back in its place, and sometimes it's not always exactly how it used to be. So there's a chance that he will be able to walk again, just not a very large one."

"Why can't you use magic to fix it?" Ginny asked.

"You're a ^!&amp;*$# Healer, you should be able to ^!&amp;*$# fix it!" Molly yelled, always protective of anyone in the Weasley clan. Combined with her stress about her family, plus the recent threat of the Enigma, she was very tensed. Everyone stared at her, and Teddy and Ginny exchanged knowing glances, realizing where James had gotten his colorful collection of new vocabulary.

The Healer, eyebrows raised, answered, "The Enigma used Dark Magic, and that's what injured Harry. We can't use magic to fix an injury caused by Dark Magic, so we have to go the Muggle way."

"Like my ear," George chimed in, reaching for the space where his ear used to be.

Ginny nodded. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Right now? You can give him love and support," the Healer said.

* * *

Ginny sat next to Harry, playing with his fingers. They had been talking, and Ginny had told him what the Healer had said- that he may never walk again.

"I'm sorry I scared you like that, Gin," he whispered.

"I'm used to it by now."

Harry winced. "I'm sorry."

Ginny managed a smile, but her stomach lurched at the thought of Harry never walking again- no more carrying Jamie and Albus around the house as they squealed with laughter, never again running up the stairs as soon as Lily whimpered…

Ginny laid her head down on Harry's chest. "Loving you has never been easy, Harry," she said. "But I do it anyway."

* * *

**So, what did you all think?  
**

**The continuation of this chapter will be posted next week. **

**Please review!**


	33. The Lies We Tell Ourselves

**This is an important author's note, so please read it!**

**First off, I'm really sorry I didn't post on Friday, I was very busy. You'll get double one-shots this week though!**

**And second, we reached over 100 reviews on this story as of last chapter. That's huge! I can't believe the support we've gotten on this fic. Thanks, everyone!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**The Lies We Tell Ourselves**

_The Enigma stood in Harry's living room, his wand outstretched, a mad grin on his face. Harry couldn't move- he was frozen in place, forced to watch in horror as the Enigma uttered a spell-_

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

_A flash of green light filled his vision, and the last thing he heard was Albus's tortured scream-_

"NO!" Harry sat up, panting heavily. Everything was tinged green.

"Harry! What happened?" Ginny all but yelled.

Harry took a deep breath. His shirt stuck to him with sweat. It wasn't real. He was in their bed, in their room, in their house, near the kids, who were perfectly safe.

"Nothing… just a nightmare."

Ginny blanched. "Not V-"

"No, no…. it must have been something I ate. Go back to sleep, Gin," Harry turned over.

He heard Ginny sigh and lie back down next to him. But he did not sleep, he couldn't sleep. He was scared. No, not scared.

_Terrified_.

* * *

"Come on, Daddy! 'Ou can do it!" Albie cried, clapping his hands.

Harry gritted his teeth, leaning almost all of his weight on the two parallel bars next to him, sitting at waist height. He and his family were in the therapy room at St. Mungo's. The bars were supports for him to hold onto while walking. They stretched for about five metres. He was supposed to walk along them, using the bars as a support.

It felt odd, hearing his son cheer him on. The father does the encouraging for the children. Not the other way around.

When the Enigma's curse exploded, Harry had broken numerous bones in his leg. But because of the Dark Magic the Enigma used, his leg couldn't heal with magic. He hadn't been able to walk for a month and a half. He was wheelchair confined, and it was humiliating.

He started physical therapy yesterday. The Healers had recommended he start walking again and strengthen his leg. He was yet to make it halfway across the room. The Healers said it was normal and these things took time, but Harry was losing patience. He was normally very calm, but for some reason, this time around he just couldn't wait any more.

Combined with his frequent nightmares, he wasn't in the best shape to do physical therapy. So, when his arm trembled and gave way, he crashed into the mat without much surprise.

"Harry! Are you alright?" Ginny rushed over.

"I'm fine." Harry brushed it off. He didn't want James, Albus, and Lily to see him like this.

* * *

_Harry crept behind the bushes, keeping an eye on the Enigma while also looking out for any twigs or branches on the ground. He couldn't risk making any noise that would alert the Enigma. And then suddenly, the Enigma Apparated, forcing Harry to go along with him. The Aurors had put a tracking spell on the Enigma so that if he Apparated, they could know where to go._

_Harry found himself standing on a street with houses on either side of it. It looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it until he saw the Enigma turn and walk into one of the houses on his left._

_It was his street._

_The Enigma had walked into his house._

_Harry ran after the Enigma and into his house, but he was too late, because just then the tracking spell alerted him that the Enigma had left. Harry took the stairs two at a time, because he was certain he knew why the Enigma had been there. Running into James' room first, he glanced inside and relaxed when he saw James sound asleep in his bed._

_Next he checked Albus' room, and once again breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Albus sleeping in his crib, sucking his thumb._

_Now he was wondering whether his fear had been correct, and he walked a little slower to Lily's room, not as worried as he had been at first. But when he looked inside, his stomach dropped._

_She wasn't there._

Harry woke up, panting, his hair plastered to his face, his chest rising and falling with each sharp breath. He looked to his left, but Ginny was sound asleep. Good. He hadn't woken her up. He didn't want her to see him like this, all sweat and tears and broken pieces of the person he once was.

And then he remembered why he had woken up.

He shot out of bed like a bullet, lowered himself into the wheelchair beside his bed, and started wheeling down the hallway. He'd never done it by himself before, but the fear and adrenaline pumping through his veins gave him more than enough strength and he rushed to Lily's room, only to see her sound asleep in her crib, her slight little chest moving gracefully in time with her tiny breaths. His eyes filled with tears of joy, so relieved to see her right there, in front of him, close enough to touch.

He slumped into the rocking chair that was next to the crib and dragged his hand down his face, feeling spent from the nightmare and fear that had overtaken him. _Why am I so scared of the Enigma? Am I just losing my nerve?_ He put his face in his hands, feeling ashamed.

He didn't notice Ginny walk into the room, nor did he notice when she covered him with a blanket, for he was already fast asleep.

* * *

Harry tried to push himself up from his wheelchair, his face red from exertion. He wasn't used to only being able to use his arms for strength. The therapist helped Harry to his feet as Harry wobbled unsteadily. Trying to regain his balance, Harry took the crutches that the therapist handed him and shoved them under his arms, grasping them tightly.

It had been a week since Harry's last nightmare, and he had been feeling a little better since then. They'd graduated from walking with the bars to actual crutches, which was "phenomenal progress," according to the physical therapist.

"Okay, Harry, since this is your first time using crutches in here, we'll go slow. Try to go the distance along the tape line."

There was a line of tape about a metre long. Harry planted the crutches on the ground and took a deep breath. I can do this.

He took a tentative step forward, his arms and leg shaking with each step. One foot forward…. move the crutch….. almost there….

"Come on, Harry!" Ron cheered. Hermione smiled encouragingly. They'd come to watch his session and offer their morale support. But Harry didn't feel supported. He felt ashamed that they were seeing him like this. He wasn't supposed to be this… this weak.

_What an Auror I am, the Chosen One, but I can't even handle one Dark Wizard, and-_

His crutch slipped and he came crashing to the ground, his left arm pinned under his body.

"Daddy!" James cried.

"Harry!" chorused Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. He could hear their frantic footsteps, along with the tread of the therapist. He lay face-down, unable to get up, his face burning. He couldn't even walk. He was so pathetic.

James got there first, as he managed to run underneath all of the therapy equipment instead of having to go around. "Daddy, you okay?" James asked, pulling on Harry's arm.

"I don't need your help!" Harry snapped. James dropped his father's arm like it had burned him, his lower lip trembling.

"No, James, I didn't mean-" Harry sighed as the therapist and Ron pulled him gently into the wheelchair. Ginny and Hermione were both staring at Harry sadly, while silent tears ran down James's face.

_Great, Potter. Can't even accept help from your son. You can't do anything right._ Harry gritted his teeth and turned the wheelchair around, pushing the wheels, making his way to the exit.

"Hey, mate, where're you going?" Ron called after him worriedly.

Harry didn't answer.

* * *

_"Do it."_

_Harry looked at the Enigma, then down at his wand. "I won't! You can't make me." Harry tried to move, but he couldn't- he was being held in place by the Enigma._

_"I won't let you go until you've done it."_

_Harry's eyes glistened, and no he pleaded. "Please, don't make me, I'll do anything! Just don't make me hurt them."_

_The Enigma laughed, a dark, icy, cruel chuckle that made Harry's hands shake with terror. "Oh, I don't want you to hurt them." The Enigma smiled._

_"You- you don't?"_

_"No."_

_"Then-"_

_The Enigma cut Harry off. "I want you to kill them."_

_Harry's eyes widened. He knew the Enigma was evil, but this- this was a whole new level that he hadn't seen since- since Voldemort._

_"Please. Please don't make me," Harry whimpered, tears streaming down his face. The Enigma just looked at him, waiting patiently._

_"I won't. I can't." His voice broke._

_"If you won't kill them effortlessly and painlessly, then I will torture them for hours on end, while you stand here, watching helplessly, unable to do anything to stop me as I break your family."_

_Harry looked down, knowing that nothing would work. The Enigma would stand here forever if he had to, waiting for Harry to do what he had said. He would stop at nothing to break Harry._

_Harry took a deep breath, holding his wand up and facing the four people standing in front of him, lined up like targets._

_Fiery red hair and warm brown eyes, telling him that it would be okay, she understood._

_Black hair that stuck up everywhere and brown eyes that looked exactly like his mother's, blinking up at him, not fully understanding but knowing that something was wrong._

_Brown hair and green eyes like his father, gazing up at his dad, because he had always looked up to Harry._

_Dark red hair and chocolate eyes that looked up at Harry, smiling, because he was her daddy and she knew him. She was daddy's little girl._

_Harry choked back his tears and pointed his wand at the first person, his youngest son, his hand shaking so badly that he had to support it with the other one._

_He whispered the incantation and a jet of green light flew from his wand, and then all Harry could see was Albus, on the floor, dead. Harry wanted to run to Albus, but the Enigma wouldn't let him; his look clearly told Harry to finish off the rest._

_Harry pointed his wand at his daughter, his little girl, and suddenly there was so many tears that he couldn't see. But he wiped them away and then there was green, and Lily was gone too._

_His first child. Harry couldn't watch. There was a thud and Harry opened his eyes to see James lying on the floor._

_And last was Ginny, the woman he loved, his best friend. She had never doubted him, never lost faith in him, always believed in him. And here he was, about to kill her, and yet all she did was look at him with a smile, telling him that she understood, that it wasn't his fault._

_He killed her._

_And she had believed in him until the very end._

Harry tried to open his eyes, but he was crying too hard. Suddenly, he saw a brightness behind his eyelids and heard a woman's voice.

"Harry? What's wrong?"

Ginny.

"You- I had to kill you and Albus and Lily and James and you were all dead and the worst part was you believed in me, Ginny, even when I killed our children, and you still loved me, even though you knew I was going to kill you, and I-" Harry broke down in Ginny's arms, crying and crying into her shoulder.

"Harry? Harry, what are you talking about? I'm right here and Lily and Albus and James are all in their rooms, asleep. They're safe, Harry. I'm safe. You're safe. It was just one nightmare, why are you crying so much?"

"You don't understand, Gin. It's not just one nightmare. This is one of the dozens I've had since the attack. I- the Enigma dead, but he's very much alive in my subconscious and he keeps appearing! You don't know how hard it is, watching someone hurt the people you love. And this last one! He made me hurt you, and the kills me, Ginny! It kills me!"

Ginny's mouth was hanging open. "Dozens? Why didn't you tell me, Harry?"

Harry hung his head. "I didn't want you to see me weak. I've been trying to hide it, but it's so frustrating to need help with everything."

Suddenly, Ginny seemed to realize something. "That's why you you snapped at Jamie earlier, when he was trying to help you, isn't it? Harry, it's not good to keep your feelings bottled up. I know you think you always have to be the hero, but… sometimes, even the _best _heroes need to be saved."

Harry sighed. "But I don't know why it's bothering me so much, Ginny. He's dead. I know he's dead. But I'm still getting nightmares. I didn't get nearly as much when Voldemort was at large, and now I'm being brought to tears by some Voldemort wannabe who's dead? It doesn't make any sense, Ginny!"

As she watched the love of her life sobbing, breaking down, showing his weakness for what seemed like the first time in forever, something clicked in Ginny's mind.

"That's it," she mumbled.

"What?" Harry wiped his nose.

"I know why the Enigma's causing your nightmares! The family you jumped in front of- they had three kids, right?"

"Y-yeah," Harry said shakily.

"Two boys and a little girl?"

"I think so."

"Well, then, that's it! You saw those little children almost get killed. You saved them. But now it's haunting you, because what if you can't save our kids?"

_Maybe. Maybe not._ Harry didn't know. All he was sure about was that he was a sobbing mess who couldn't handle one wizard. You didn't see Ron crying every day after work.

"Harry. Look at me." Ginny took his face in her hands and looked straight into his tired eyes.

"You are not alone. You've got the whole family, and especially mum, who sure as hell would never let a single thing touch any of her grandchildren. You have Hermione, who's quite literally memorized every single spell in the world. And you have me. I'm here. I won't ever leave you.

"I get scared like that too, Harry. Every time you go on a mission, and every time there's a new Voldemort wannabe or another mad lunatic, I think about our children's safety. But I know they're safe because I trust you, Harry. Your mum knew the same thing when Voldemort walked through their door that night.

"You need to trust me, Harry. I love you, and what power is there that is greater than love? I know you love our kids, and I know you will until the day that you die. And I know that you know I feel the same way. So I need you to trust me. I can't promise that they'll always be safe, but I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to try. You have to trust me because we're in this together. You don't need to face this alone.

"And it there's ever any threat to our kids, you're Harry Potter, and I'm Ginny Weasley. I think we got it covered." Ginny winked.

Harry managed to smile."I guess they'd run away as soon as they see you angry."

"I am not that bad!"

Harry chuckled. "Please. You're like an angry bull on steroids," he deadpanned.

* * *

**3 Months Later**

"Can we get ice cweam?" Albus asked from his stroller.

"Sure, Albie," Harry smiled.

The Potter family strode down the sidewalk of Diagon Alley. The sun was shining, not a cloud in sight. The perfect day for a family shopping spree, as Ginny had put it.

Outside of the ice cream parlor, Ginny pulled open the door and led the kids inside. Albus and James clambered around, excited for their dose of sugar that would leave them bouncing off the walls later that day. Lily giggled at her brothers' antics.

"Chocolate! I want ten scoops of chocolate!" James cried, running around Ginny's legs and pulling on her purse.

"Alright, alright, calm yourselves. We haven't even given you the sugar yet," Ginny said, patting James fondly on the head .

After they placed their order (only one scoop for James, nine less than his desired amount but one more than he really needed, to be honest), Harry reached for his wallet. Suddenly, he lurched, losing his balance. He nearly toppled over, grabbing the counter for balance. Ginny grabbed his arm to steady him.

Harry had a cane.

The therapists had said that he would need it for the "indefinite future". Maybe even for many years to come- they didn't yet know.

They'd had to move Ginny and Harry's bed down to the ground floor, as he couldn't climb stairs anymore. He wasn't able to ride his broom anymore. And he wasn't able to lift his children and play with them anymore. His nightmares hadn't completely stopped since that night three months ago.

But Harry wasn't ashamed anymore. Ginny had reminded him. He was not alone.

He was still healing, bit by bit, putting the pieces back together.

But Harry didn't care. He had his family, safe and sound, together with him, always.

* * *

**So, what did you all think? We're pretty proud of this chapter ;). Please review!  
**


	34. Baby Funnies

**Hi guys, thanks for all of the reviews and follows last chapter!**

**I've also decided to start putting the ages of the kids in the author's notes, because they're going to start growing up soon later in this fic (more on that in the coming weeks) And keep in mind these ages are not canon, but we based them off canon as best we could. **

Molly: 5 and a half years oldJames: 4 years old 

Fred: 4 years old

Lucy: 1 and a half (almost)Albus: 3 years old

Roxanne: 1 years old 

Lily: Less than a year old

**Enjoy this one-shot!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Baby Funnies**

"Morning, Mummy!" Fred II waved, eating a bit of toast.

"Morning, Freddie! Did you sleep well?" Angelina asked, carrying Roxanne down the stairs.

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Roxy pooped and I cou' smell it," Fred said matter-of-factly.

"Oh… sorry about that," Angelina smiled.

* * *

"Don't touch her!" Angelina cried, pulling Roxanne away from George.

"What did I do?" George didn't recall dirtying his hands.

"There's that nasty bug going around. I don't want Roxy getting sick," Angelina said worriedly.

George gulped. "Is it a bad bug?"

"Spreads faster than the Weasleys breed, from what I've heard," Angelina shucked, half joking, half serious.

Her husband blanched.

* * *

"Oh, such a cute baby!" A woman cooed. The family was out on the Underground, heading to the zoo.

The woman reached out to pinch Roxanne's chubby cheeks.

"NO, DON'T DO IT WOMAN!" George yelled, swatting her hand away. "YOU COULD INFECT HER!"

"George, calm down!" Angelina whispered, noticing the staring eyes of the other passengers.

"No! I need to keep Roxanne safe!" George said, looking around frantically. He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and quickly wrote a message.

_Get your stinking infected hands off my baby, or I'll slap you, boi! Yes, boi with an 'i'!_

George taped the note onto Roxanne's baby carrier and sat back down. "She's good now," he said, sighing in relief.

* * *

"This is why the microeconomics of politics lead to a bigger problem in the grand scheme of things. Without a system of checks and balances, a Gerrymander could occur every election. Everyone's ideologies would be forced into a channel of discord and division, and the types of red-tape actions that are seriously crippling the system would become common. Also,-"

Audrey came in, waving four slips of paper. Percy hurriedly tucked the book under his arm and grabbed the "emergency-book-toy-switcher" and began to play with Molly.

Audrey said, "Percy, I bought us and your parents tickets to _Violet Suns: 2 Cool for Dresden's Pool._"

Percy smiled. "That sounds great, dear. Except, the title seems a bit of a different tone... did they switch directors?"

But Audrey wasn't listening. "Uh, Percy…. what on Earth are you reading to Molly?" she asked tentatively. She pointed to the book under his arm, on which the word "politics" was clearly visible.

Percy blushed. He'd been caught. "Just catching her up on some of the politics, you know. Best to teach them early. It's quite an interesting book, actually, with very strong political stances." Percy waved the copy of _Politics for Kids- Ages 3-6._ Audrey gaped at him.

"There are other editions, like newborn to 2, and 6 to 8, and 9 to 10, and 11 to 13, and 14 to 16, and 16 to 18, and then there are twenty other volumes on 18 years old. I've read them all. It's quite interesting."

"...No, just...No."

"But it's good for her!" Percy said, avoiding mentioning that he'd switched out all of Lucy's baby cassettes with recordings of political speeches.

Audrey frowned. "Don't you think it'll bore her? She's only five."

"No, she's deeply engrossed. She's got a 97 average, so I know she's learning." Percy leaned in. "Lucy's only got an 85. We might need to check on her progress, maybe hire a tutor…."

"You gave them tests?" Audrey asked incredulously. "And, TUTOR?"

"Er- no?"

* * *

"'Ello, _cherie_, 'ow was school?" Fleur hugged Victoire, who had just come into the kitchen. Victoire shrugged off her bag and jumped up onto one of the bar-stools next to the counter.

"It was good. We're learning grammar and punctuation in Language class and times tables in Maths." Victoire bit into an apple.

"Sounds fun," Fleur smiled.

"_Maman_! My team won the football game during break!" Dominique cried, running into the kitchen, her hair flying wildly behind her.

"Zat's great! And 'ow did you do on zat science test?" Fleur asked, looking pointedly at her daughter.

Dominique froze, then said, "I think daddy's calling me. COMING DADDY!" She ran out of the room, leaving her mother and sister in fits of laughter.

"Don't worry, she'll be back," said Vic.

"'Ow do you know?" Fleur asked.

"She forgot a snack." Vic grinned, grabbing her bag and going to her room.

* * *

"_Maman_, I made a new friend at school!" Louis announced, walking into the kitchen.

"Really? How wonderful," said Fleur, and she meant it. She worried about little Louis sometimes. He was quiet and thoughtful, but those qualities meant that he wasn't always able to talk to new kids and make friends easily.

"His name is Jarvis and he's from Germany! He and his family moved here last week, but he started at school today. He even taught me some German!" Louis was bouncing up and down, his eyes sparkling, and Fleur thought that this was the most excited she had ever seen him.

"Zat's great, Louis! How about you tell us at dinner, when we're all together?" Fleur suggested.

"Okay."

* * *

"So I want to learn more German so I can talk to Jarvis! He doesn't have any friends so I want to be his first one," Louis said proudly.

"Where is _papa_?" Victoire asked as she brought plates to the table.

"He ees still at work."

"Can we surprise daddy and show him my German?" Louis asked excitedly. For some reason, Vic called her father and mother "_Maman_ and _papa_" while Louis and Dom used "_Maman_" and "dad" instead of _papa_.

"Ooh, can I learn as well?" Vic questioned.

"Of course. I had learned some German when I was at Beauxbatons. I will teach you all some after dinner." Fleur brought the dishes to the table.

* * *

"'Guten tag' is hello," Fleur started off.

"Guten tag," Vic repeated.

"'Bitte' means please," Fleur continued their lesson.

"'Bitte'." Louis pronounced. However, somehow it sounded as though he was saying the swear... for 'female dog'…

"Ooh, maman, what does this word mean?" Dom asked, perking up as she read a word in Fleur's multilingual dictionary.

"Abfahrt?" Dom, Louis, and Vic giggled.

"That means, 'to depart'."

"Louis abfahrted! Vic abfahrted!" Dominique began to chant. Louis burst out laughing. Fleur just shook her head, trying to hide the smile that was creeping up her face.

* * *

"I'm home!" Bill cried as he shrugged off his coat and pushed the door shut.

"Guten tag!" Victoire shouted, jumping out from behind the umbrella stand, causing it to fall down.

"Gluten tag!" Dominique yelled.

"Poopin tag!" Louis scratched his head, because what he said _definitely _didn't sound right.

"Um, hi?" Bill asked, his eyebrow raised. He hadn't the faintest idea what his kids were saying.

"Can I take your coat, bitte?" Dominique asked, once again pronouncing it like the swear for 'female dog'.

"What did you just say to me?" Bill asked, switching on the lights of their kitchen.

"You're dick!" Louis cried, not knowing what he was saying.

"Excuse me?"

"You hören, your aas is so bubi!" Vic finished.

"AHHH!" Bill screamed as his children advanced upon him, wielding the weapons of their "swearwords".

"FLEUR! HELP! THEY'VE GONE MAD!" Bill rushed out of the door, his children at his heels, speaking "German."

* * *

Harry leaned on his cane wearily as the Potter family walked through the revolving doors (Albus insisted on going around three times, and almost got stuck) into the new multi-plex-shopping mall-movie theater-restaurant-amusement park that was built a few blocks down from their home.

Albus and James toddled in front of their parents, who were pushing Lily in a stroller. The family was jostled by huge crowds, all clamoring to get into one of the stores of this huge shopping complex.

"Can we go to a movie?" James asked.

"We go sopping?" Albus asked. He never grew out of that one word.

"Gur goo gah?" Lily babbled.

"No, yes, and maybe," Ginny replied, still looking around in awe.

"Where to first?" Harry asked, waving his free hand around.

"Toddler store, pwease," James asked, surprisingly calm despite the chaos of the crowds around him.

"Sure, why not? It doesn't look as crowded, anyhow," Harry turned towards the store in question and started hobbling towards it.

"SHRUBBERY!" a man shouted, running across the mall, dragging his wife by the hand and bumping into Harry. Harry stumbled, dropping his cane.

"HEY! WATCH IT, YOU &amp;#%!" Ginny yelled, sprinting over to Harry to help him up. "Ginny, what did we say about swearing in public?" Harry asked.

"Do it in your head, not out loud," Ginny repeated, picking up Harry's cane. The thin, wooden rod was a solemn reminder of Harry's injury.

"Yes, exactly," Harry said, taking the cane from Ginny and walking back to the kids. "Come on, James and Al, let's go get you some clothes."

* * *

"Ooh, this would go nicely with those blue shoes Al has, don't you think, Harry? Harry?" Ginny looked around for her husband. He was playing one-handed catch with Al and James.

"Harry! What did we say about playing catch in public?" Ginny asked.

"Do it at home, not in the stores," Harry repeated dully, putting the ball away.

"I don't wike that!" Albus wrinkled his nose at the blue shirt Ginny held up.

"Okay… come here and pick the color that you like. Harry, start finding clothes for James, I don't want to be here all day." She picked up an armful of clothes and held them out for Albus to examine.

"No, no, no, ooh, no, no… wait, dat one!" Albus cried triumphantly. He pointed to a tu-tu - who knew how that got into the boys section- and whispered deviously, "Let's put it on Jamie when he sleeping."

Ginny smirked. "Great idea. Pranking your older brother. I've taught you well."

Meanwhile, in the four-year-olds section, James was flat out refusing to even look at any of the clothes Harry was trying to show him.

"James, look at this and pick something, otherwise you're not gonna have any clothes to wear!" Harry said exasperatedly.

"No! I don't like clothes!" James cried, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What about this one?" Harry asked, holding out a green t-shirt.

"NO!" James protested.

Harry turned back to the shelves of clothes, trying to find something that James wouldn't protest to.

"I like this!" Harry heard James say quietly, but he didn't turn around, knowing it would be some sort of toy that he didn't need. Grabbing two more shirts, he turned around, only to find James was butt-naked.

"James! Put on your clothes!" Harry's heart dropped.

"No! I wan' that suit!" James ran towards the older kids' section, where a black-and-white pinstriped suit was on display.

"James! Come back here!" Harry hobbled after his streaking son. "Ginny! CODE NAKED!" Harry tossed the words over his shoulder as he made his way towards James.

"I'll get him!" Ginny rushed past Harry. "Watch Albus and Lily!"

Harry slowed down and watched his wife run towards their naked son, who had reached the suit-mannequin and was trying to pull off the jacket.

The mannequin toppled over with a crash and knocked into a large rack of clothing, which _also _fell.

James jumped in fright and took off.

"JAMES! GET YOUR NAKED BUTT BACK HERE, RIGHT NOW!" Ginny sprinted after their son. He weaved through displays and under racks of clothes.

"JAMES! STOP!" Ginny watched as James bumped into an employee, who dropped her cinnamon bun on his head.

He giggled and kept running, now apparently thinking this was a game.

Ginny panted. _I'm getting so old…. OH, my back! _Her slowing speed wasn't helped by her having to go around everything, while James could go under them due to his height (or lack thereof).

Soon, she stopped, people whizzing around her, and finally came to terms with the fact that she had lost her streaking son somewhere in the middle of the giant department store.

"James? JAMES!" Ginny cried. Who knew what antics James could get into, _especially _since he was naked. She could see the headlines now:

_Department Store Completely Destroyed by Naked Four-Year-Old. Site declared hazardous for health._

She spotted him standing near a collection of hats.

Ginny gasped. "JAMES, NO, THAT IS NOT A TOILET!"

* * *

"Ginny, how the hell did we get arrested for James's peeing in a hat?" Harry asked furiously, sitting on the hard cement bench of their cell while Ginny paced back and forth.

"I don't know! There isn't even a logical charge here!" Ginny spat angrily.

A very scared Albus, a very cranky Lily, and a very naked James all sat in the cell quietly, watching their parents.

"James, when we get home, I'm going to put a padlock on your clothes," Harry muttered.

The door slid open and an officer came into view. "Your bail has been paid. You're free to go."

Harry picked up his cane. "Who paid the bail?" he asked.

"A redhead and some girl who wore a brown bush on her head," the officer said. "I didn't catch their names."

"Harry! Ginny!" Hermione said reproachfully, coming into view. Ginny beamed and grabbed Lily's stroller, pushing it out of the cell, Albus and James following close behind.

Out of earshot of the officer, Ron sniggered, "You got arrested? In a bloody mall?"

"Oh, shut up, Ron," Ginny smacked him over the head.

"Let's go back to the Burrow, Ginny, you missed dinner and Molly's been worried sick," Hermione said.

"How'd you know where to find us?" Harry asked, adjusting his cane and hobbling along with them.

"It's all over the news, mate. _Department Store Completely Destroyed by Naked Four-Year-Old. Site declared hazardous for health until cleanup," _Ron snorted.

Ginny stiffened, her eyes widening. She muttered, "I can tell the future!"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"N- nothing," Ginny replied. "Let's go back."

They walked out of the police station and ducked into an alley, grabbing the kids' hands and Disapparating.

Harry had only just taken a breath when a loud yell shocked all of them.

"GINNY WEASLEY, HOW DARE YOU GET ARRESTED! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT'D BE GEORGE WHO WOULD BE THE FAMILY CRIMINAL, BUT IT WAS YOU! WHY WAS JAMES NAKED! HE COULD HAVE CAUGHT A COLD! BAD PARENTING, THAT'S WHAT THAT WAS! I THOUGHT ARTHUR AND I HAD RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS, BUT I SUPPOSE NOT!" The dishes rattled as Molly's voice reverberated around the room.

"Mum, can we save this until after we get some clothes on James? He just peed in your _Mimbulus Mimbletonia,_" Ginny said.

* * *

**Please review!  
**

**Preview for next week: There's a birthday coming up, and it's not just for one person- it's for two.**

**Speaking of Birthdays, I'll put the birthday's list that we figured here again so you can consult it if you want.**

Teddy- April 7, 1998

Victoire- May 2, 2000

Dominique- June 8, 2002

Molly II- December 23, 2003

Louis- February 3, 2004

James- April 1, 2005

Fred- May 27, 2005

Rose- January 14, 2006

Albus- July 31, 2006

Roxanne- February 4, 2008

Lucy- March 27, 2008

Hugo- May 7, 2008

Lily- August 18, 2008


	35. Happy Birthday

**Fred- 4, almost 5,**

**Roxanne- 2**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Happy Birthday**

George woke up. He stretched his arms and yawned, not fully awake but not asleep, either. Reaching out for his wife, he frowned when he realized that she wasn't lying next to him. Finally opening his eyes to see where she went, he was both surprised and a little freaked out to see Angelina, Fred, and little Roxy holding a giant birthday cake.

"SURPRISE!" They yelled, and Fred threw a handful of confetti onto George.

George opened his mouth to spit it out. "Wow, thanks! This is great!" he said sincerely, sitting up and swinging little Roxanne onto his lap. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble, Angie," he said in an undertone. Angelina smiled at him and cut him a slice of cake.

"The kids woke up extra early this morning to bake it. It was all them. All I did was make sure no one got hurt."

"Is that true?" George asked Fred, who had clambered onto the bed next to his father.

"Yeah, daddy! I even put on the frosting!" This would explain why the piece George was eating currently had all of the frosting on the cake lumped on top of it.

"So, what's the plan for today?" George bounced Roxy a couple times and she giggled.

"You wait," Angelina said. "It's going to be amazing."

* * *

"Why do I have to be blindfolded?" George moaned.

"Because I said so," Fred replied sassily. His mother raised an eyebrow at him and he blushed apologetically.

"Awmost there!" Roxy squealed. A few more steps. "Okay, you can take off the blindfold now!"

George pulled the blindfold off his face and stared in awe at his- and Fred's- joke shop (and, to a lesser extent, Ron's). It was decorated to the nines, with streamers and balloons and confetti, and all George could do was stand there and think that he was the luckiest man on earth.

But Angelina had always had a knack for reading George's mind. "Oh, if you think this is good, you should see the rest of the stuff we've got planned for you."

As soon as they entered the building, Verity, George's assistant, accosted them.

"Happy Birthday, sir!" Before George could even reply, she plowed ahead, "The franchising deal is a success. Our first Scottish location is slated to open this September. Cake, anyone?" Verity brought out a huge cake and then left immediately, muttering something about meerkat prices.

* * *

"Come on, Daddy!" urged Fred, pulling George by the arm.

"What are we doing in _Hogsmeade_, of all places?" George asked, skeptically.

"Oh, come on, George. We're going to be late!" Angelina prodded him until he finally started walking again. They made their way up the path to Hogwarts, and now George was really confused. But Angelina shushed him, and Roxy pulled him further, and finally they were on the grounds of Hogwarts.

And that's when it happened.

Peeves appeared out of thin air, cackling and singing about birthdays and whatnot. Then loud music started playing, but George couldn't trace the source. It sounded like it was coming from all over. And then the streamers flew out of the ground, arching over George in a fantastical rainbow of color. Next were the balloons, which suddenly showed up and then started popping randomly, so George never knew where the loud noise would show up next. It was like walking through a minefield, except he was standing still…

A giant banner shot out of the tallest tower of the school. It had a huge picture of George's face and it read, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORGE! HOPE YOU FALL IN!"

Just as George was about to say something, confetti started shooting up all around him, and the tune the band was playing climbed to a climax. And then, suddenly, everything stopped. No motion, no noise, not even a whisper.

And then a flock of flamingoes burst out of the Hogwarts doors, carrying screaming students and Professor Flitwick along with them.

George doubled over, laughing, when-

SPLAT!

A cake collided with George's face.

"Thanks, Peeves," George said, wiping frosting out of his eyes.

* * *

"Where are we going now, Angelina?" George asked as they Apparated somewhere. His blindfold was getting quite annoying.

"The kids didn't think of this one, but I felt like we should come anyway," Angelina replied quietly. "Okay, you can take your blindfold off now."

George took off his blindfold and stopped short.

He was standing in front of Fred's headstone.

"We thought you might want to spend your birthday with your twin," said Angelina gently, giving George some space. George smiled gratefully at Angelina, and took a couple steps forward, so that he was right next to Fred's grave. He kneeled down next to Fred.

He didn't feel sad anymore; he had come to terms with Fred's death. Now, he just felt happy that he was lucky enough to be Fred's twin and that he was able to experience firsthand the enigma that was Fred.

"Hey, Fred," George said, looking at the gravestone. "If you were still here, we'd be laughing about how old we were and whether or not we'd be able to get beards like Dumbledore's.

"Anyway, Happy Birthday, Freddie." The words on the white marble glinted in the sunlight behind George as he walked back towards Angelina.

_Mischief Managed_.

* * *

Fred smiled down at his brother as he took another bite of cake.

"Happy Birthday, Georgie."

* * *

**So, what did you think? Please review!**

**Next week's chapter: Someone's prank goes wrong, but did he really mean it to cause that much harm?**


	36. Mistakes

**James- 7**

**Albus- 6**

**Lily- 4**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

**A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing. It means a lot to us, and we hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy writing also want to thank those who read and review every chapter, we appreciate it!  
**

**Recently we were asked if we can extend this story past 50 one-shots, and we're sorry to say we can't, for two reasons. **

**First, we hardly have any time to write anymore {don't worry, we'll make our weekly posting deadlines ;)} So adding more wouldn't be feasible.  
**

**Second, we have the plot planned out. As we hit the later one-shots, you'll see them start to become more serialized, and for reasons you'll soon see, there isn't any room for adding any more one-shots. **

**But we're only on number 36. We still have 14 more to go, and we hope you all think they're the best ones yet!**

* * *

**Mistakes**

"James? Where are you? You asked me to meet you in the living room, but you're not here!" Albus walked around the house, looking for his older brother. James, however, was snickering to himself behind a couch, watching Albus walk all around the main floor of their house.

"James? Where- AHHH!" Suddenly, Albus screamed and James smiled victoriously, knowing that his prank had been successful. He popped out from behind the couch and ran to the scene of the crime- or in this case, prank.

There lay Albus, sprawled on the ground, his nose bent in an odd direction. A boxing glove hung limply from the doorframe, a bucket holding remnants of glue sat on Al's head while the rest of the glue covered his body, and sparkly pink feathers were stuck all over him.

"Haha!" James laughed. His plan had worked.

"JAMES? WHAT WAS THAT?" Ginny yelled, charging down the stairs like an angry bull. She and Harry skidded into the room, surveying the scene in front of them with their mouths open.

"Er, hello," James muttered. This wasn't part of the plan.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Ginny asked, quite loudly.

Harry approached Albus. "Al, are you alright?"

Albus rolled over. "Jabes bwoke by bose," he said thickly.

* * *

"Make sure you check for any bleeding later," the Healer said kindly as the Potter family, minus James, exited the St. Mungo's room. They'd healed Albus's nose, although they said there could be some minor bleeding in a patient so young.

"Now, let's go home, so we can yell at James," Ginny whispered to Harry.

"Don't be too hard on him."

"He broke his brother's nose! What, are we going to give him extra dessert for that?"

"I'm sure he was just playing a prank. Maybe he didn't even want it to do what it did," Harry said reasonably.

"Well, we'll see soon enough." The green flames whooshed around the family as they Flooed back to their home.

"Albus, you and Lily go up to your rooms, alright? We'll be up there soon. And if your nose starts bleeding, just send Lily down to get us." Harry instructed. The two kids nodded, perhaps sensing a huge argument about to go down between their parents and James, and they left rather quickly.

Ginny looked at Harry, and Harry nodded. "James! Could you come here, please?" Harry called.

"Coming!"

"No, you better get your butt over here before I come over there!" Ginny yelled. Footsteps sounded, and James appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, a scared look on his face.

"Yes?"

Ginny's nostrils flared. Harry's eyes widened and he took two big steps back. "Yes? That's all you have to say, yes?"

"Er- well-," James started, but he cut himself off as he saw his father shaking his head vigorously behind Ginny. Harry tried to stop James from digging himself into a deeper hole, but James just kept talking. "I was just playing a prank!" He protested. Harry shook his head in despair.

"YOU BROKE ALBUS' NOSE!" Ginny shouted. Her face was red by this point. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING? WHY WOULD YOU HURT YOUR BROTHER, YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD? HE'S YOUR FAMILY! I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WOULD DO SUCH A THING? I JUST-"

"I just wanted to be like Grandpa James," said a small voice.

Ginny stopped short. "What?" She shook her head, as if she'd misheard.

"I just wanted to be like Grandpa James," said James again.

Ginny softened, looking at Harry. "Oh, Jamie," she said, kneeling down, "Why did you think that breaking Al's nose would make you like Grandpa James?"

"I set up a prank that broke his nose. Dad told us stories of how Grandpa James and his friends pranked people all the time. I just thought… that maybe if I pranked people, then I would be like them. They were all so cool. Everyone liked them. I just… wanted everyone to like me, too."

Harry knelt down next to Ginny and put his hands on James' shoulders. "Your Grandpa James did pull pranks, James, but he never planned them to hurt people. And even if someone did get hurt, it was never intentional."

"Oh." James looked down, and his eyes welled up with tears. "I- I'm sorry! I didn't know! I just- I just thought-" James broke down in Harry's arms, and all Harry and Ginny could do was try and comfort him.

"James, sweetheart, stop crying. We all make mistakes. What matters is that we learn from them in the end. Now, what you did was not okay, but we're not mad at you. We just don't want it to happen again." Ginny spoke soothingly, stroking James' hair away from his face.

"I think you should go apologize to Al," Harry suggested. "And, we're okay with you pulling pranks; we just don't want you to intentionally hurt people. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I do. And I'm sorry." James stood up, wiped his eyes, and started up the stairs. Harry and Ginny stood up as well.

"Oh, James!" Harry said. "I forgot to tell you!"

"Yes, dad?" James asked, turning around.

"Not everyone liked your Grandpa James. In fact, Grandma Lily hated him for quite a while." And with that, Harry winked and said, "Now, go talk to Al."

James grinned.

* * *

**And the preview for next week: The only people we know who can go on a vacation, only to be even more stressed than before.**


	37. Vacay Part 1

**A/N: This is going to be an important author's note, so please read it!**

**First off, thanks again for all the support we've been getting!**

**Now, we (the two authors of this fic) have been thinking, and we've decided that it's time for the characters to grow up a little. So, in short, we're not going to be writing about the second-gen as babies and toddlers anymore- we're going to begin writing about the characters as older kids.**

**Along with this, the stories will be a little less fluffy and a little more serious, but don't worry- we'll still put in the humor as we've always done, except now the characters aren't as young. We hope you all will continue to enjoy this fic as storylines become a bit more mature and the characters grow up.**

**For this chapter: **

**James-9**

**Rose, Albus-8**

**Hugo, Lily-6**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Vacay Part 1**

"JAMES! AL! LILY! WE'RE LEAVING WITHOUT YOU!" Ginny yelled up the stairs. The Potter family was going on a vacation with Ron, Hermione, Hugo, and Rose. Ginny and Harry had been ready for a while, but when they first announced (three hours ago) that it was time to leave, Lily had gasped and run up the stairs, shouting behind her that she had forgotten to pack.

And so the rest of the Potter family sat in silence for half an hour, when Albus suddenly jumped up and, muttering something about peanut butter, ran up to his room. And then it was just James, Ginny, and Harry, until James realized he had forgotten something too, leaving just Harry and Ginny.

"Why are we doing this, Ginny?" Harry asked wearily, already tired with this whole affair.

"Because, Harry, this is the first time you've gotten vacation in months and we're going to spend some happy, quality time with our children and we're going to be relaxed during this whole week, understand? LILY! ALBUS! JAMES! COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW OR SO HELP ME WE'RE GOING TO MISS OUR FLIGHT AND IF WE DO I WILL MAKE YOU WISH WE HADN'T!" She ran up the stairs.

Harry shook his head fondly. True, it had been almost a year since Harry had last gotten any vacation time. Ever since the accident with the Enigma, Harry had moved to a desk job, with the occasional (but never dangerous) mission or two.

It had taken some adjustment but he was fine with his job nowadays. And it paid a really good salary. The only problem was he didn't really get much time off anymore.

He glanced at his watch. It was 11:30am. The flight was at 1pm. They were never going to make it.

* * *

"GO GO GO GO!" Ginny yelled. The Potter-Weasley clan raced through the airport. They had checked in, gotten through security, and were now desperately trying to find their terminal.

The flight took off in two minutes, their terminal was number 73, and they had just passed terminal 32. Harry was doing his best to keep up, limping slightly behind the rest of the group.

By the time they reached terminal 73, they were all completely out of breath and clutching stitches in their sides.

"Did- we- make it?" Hermione gasped.

"Barely," the attendant said. She scanned their tickets then opened the door for them. "Have a nice flight!" She waved them off with a blinding smile.

* * *

Harry looked around. He was sitting by himself at the front of the plane, in between two strangers. He could only see Ginny and Lily, who had luckily gotten two seats together on the other side of the aisle, right next to Harry. James, Albus, Ron, Hermione, Rose, and Hugo were all out of sight. Harry sighed and resigned himself to a long flight.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the plane, Hermione was trying to corral the children and Ronald into their seats.

"Mummy, I want to sit next to you!" Rose wailed.

"Mum, can I sit next to Al and James?" Hugo asked.

"'Mione, are you sure this thing won't crash?"

Hermione snapped. "We all have assigned seats, so put your butts in them before I…." She cut off hastily at a look from the flight attendant. They were blocking the aisle. "Sit!" she hissed. The children and Ronald sighed and took their respective seats.

"Is there a problem here, ma'am?" The flight attendant asked, a polite smile on her face.

"No, thank you, I was just trying to get everyone into their seats," Hermione replied, giving the evil eye to Ron, who was shifting uncomfortably in his middle seat. "It's everyone's first flight, except mine."

"Oh…" a flash of understanding crossed her face. "Of course. If you need anything, please, don't hesitate to call me over." The flight attendant smiled once more, and then left to take care of a crying toddler.

"Ron, you'll be fine. I have to go to my seat now." Hermione sent a sharp look to Ron, a somewhat sheepish grin to the attendant, and then took her own seat.

* * *

This was Ron's first time on a plane, and he would have been amazed, if the entire experience wasn't so terrifying.

The engine roared to life, and Ron panicked, especially as the plane was now taxiing down the runway. He nervously looked around, chomping loudly on the piece of gum that Hermione had given him to prevent ear popping.

The engine started revving loudly, and his heart began pounding. _Is it supposed to do that? _The passengers in his vicinity turned and glared at him, but Ron was looking out the window, too nervous to notice anything else. _This giant hunk of metal cannot stay up in the air without magic!_

The plane tilted up and shuddered slightly. Ron let out a squeak, and the two men sitting next to him turned to look at him. They were both big and hairy, and quite smelly as well. The smell was certainly not helping Ron, who was already feeling nauseous enough from nerves.

The plane soon began to reach the highest altitudes. Ron began to sweat. _We're fine. Don't worry, Ron. You've made sure George doesn't take any of the inheritance._

Soon, the plane leveled out and Ron slowly began to relax. The pressure in his ears dropped, thankfully, and he took a sigh of relief.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Matthew Shindig and I'll be your captain today. We're going to be in the air for about 12 hours, and once we land in LAX, some of you can head over to Terminal 7 for your layover to Honolulu.

"What's a turnover?" Ron hissed to Hermione, who was seated behind him. He turned to face her and promptly elbowed one of the men next to him in the stomach.

"A turnover is a type of food, Ron. A layover is where we stop to get onto our connecting flight to Hawaii. We're stopping in LA," Hermione said reassuringly. "It's nothing to worry about. Harry and I will handle it."

It turns out Harry and Hermione really _couldn't_ handle it, as the next 12 hours were a complete disaster.

* * *

First, Lily had gotten airsick and accidentally vomited onto the old woman next to her, who promptly whacked Ginny with her newspaper on accident. Harry had to run to get Lily to the restroom while Ginny and the flight attendant cleaned up the mess.

While Harry and Ginny were helping Lily, James decided it would be a good thing to take off his seat belt and have a "seat belt war" with Albus and Hugo. It didn't go so well and Albus ended up with a bump on his head the size of a plum.

Hermione had to run to the back of the plane where the kids (minus Lily) were all sitting and help Albus calm down. And then Rose screeched, saying she left her book in the airport terminal and they had to turn the airplane back.

Hermione had to search for a flight attendant and find something for Rose to read, or she'd get very grumpy. She'd ended up having to give Rose the flight attendant behavior manual, after which Rose stated, "I want to become a flight attendant!"

Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny brought Lily back to her seat, only to find the food and beverage carts were blocking the aisle on both sides. They were surrounded.

"Let's just push past here," Ginny muttered, trying to squeeze past the carts, because if they didn't get to their seats, they'd be trapped for who knew how long.

Suddenly, the plane jolted, and the flight attendant spilled the entire bottle of grape juice on Ginny's head. The fasten seatbelt sign came on, and Ginny had to return to her seat, her hair sticky and purple.

"I hate everything," she grimaced as the juice dripped everywhere.

* * *

"We're going to be hitting some minor patches of rough air, so I would like everyone to return to their seats and fasten their seat-belts. It's nothing to worry about, just a precaution." The captain's voice faded away as another jolt shook the plane. Ron jumped in his seat and accidentally kicked the man on his left.

"Watch it!" the man said, annoyed. .

"Ron! Be careful!" Hermione made it back to her seat, having just finished icing Albus's forehead.

Another bump shook the plane, this time rattling the seats slightly, and Ron screamed.

"HERMIONE! THEY'RE WEIGHING US DOWN! WE'RE GONNA CRASH! AHHHHH!"

"Ron! Quiet!" Hermione whispered desperately. This was not going well at all.

"HERMIONE, I DIDN'T WRITE MY WILL YET!"

The man to the right of Ron groaned. "Will you shut up?" he asked, irritated.

"NO! YOU TWO WILL BE THE REASON THIS PLANE FALLS OUT OF THE SKY! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! HERMIONE, I NEED TO LEAVE!" And with that, Ron unbuckled his seatbelt, jumped out of his seat, and ran to the front of the plane. He was about to open the door when the flight attendants intercepted him.

"Excuse me, sir, but you can't be out of your seat! The pilot has turned on the seatbelt sign. And you also can't open the door, because we're 35,000 feet in the air. And lastly, you will have to be arrested once we land, sir, for being a public menace."

"A public menace? Is that even a thing?" Hermione asked. She had come up behind them while the flight attendant was talking.

"And who are you, ma'am? Will you be trying to open the door, as well?" A flight attendant asked, sneering.

"Aren't you people supposed to be nice?" Hermione muttered. She pulled out her wand discreetly, so no passengers saw, and Obliviated them.

"Never mind, sir, it's your first flight. You're fine, just go back to your seat, please." The flight attendant walked away, a blank expression on her face.

"Yay, I'm not going to be arrested!" Ron said jovially. Hermione rolled her eyes.

They made their way back to their seats, when the man on the right asked, "Is this your husband? I'll switch seats with you. Please. I'm begging."

"Oh, uh, sure," Hermione sat down in the seat of the man, who happily sat down in her vacated seat. Ron took his place next to Hermione, who promptly whacked him with the flight safety pamphlet.

* * *

After a very eventful rest of the flight, plus a huge fiasco of a layover, which involved an old woman named Betsy, coconut water, fig bars, a toothbrush, a stuffed koala named Carl, and a unicycle, the Potter and Weasley families finally exited the plane into the Honolulu airport.

"Now, we need to go through customs, then claim our luggage at baggage claim, after which we can grab a taxi and go over to our hotel. Any questions?" Hermione was the de facto leader of this trip, which was just as well, since the other adults were preoccupied with keeping the children from running away screaming. They'd been given too much sugary juice and too many cookies on the flight and the effects were showing.

Of course, customs went terribly.

"Passport, please," the agent asked smoothly.

"Right here, I have them," Hermione handed over a bundle of papers.

The woman looked through the passports and stamped each one. She stopped at Ron's and looked more closely.

"It says here that Ronald Bilius Weasley is on the no-fly-list," she said. "SECURITY!"

* * *

Three hours later, the family exited the security office, having finally cleared up that Ron wasn't a danger to the community and that was a misprint on his passport.

"Alright, let's go claim our baggage, before anything else goes wrong," Harry said, very optimistically.

They made their way to baggage claim, where luckily, their luggage was still going around in circles on the conveyor belts, even though it had been three hours since they'd landed.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny grabbed the bags while Hermione held onto James and Hugo firmly so they wouldn't run off and do something crazy.

"We're missing one," Ginny said. "I'm only counting 8 bags, but we checked in 9."

"Whose bag is missing?" Hermione asked, sighing internally.

"Er… Ron's," Harry said apologetically.

* * *

Another two hours later, the Weasley-Potter family was sitting in the Lost Baggage Office. Ron had taken Hugo and James to the bathroom.

"Let me finalize your record... You lost a bag, and you flew from London to Big Island, Hawaii. Am I correct?" asked the man who was behind the desk.

"Yes," Hermione confirmed.

"And the airports involved were Heathrow, LAX, and Kona International Airport. Yes?"

"Yes."

"And the airline you flew was...Seaboard Airlines."

"Yes."

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation. I'll put out a statement, and we'll call you if it turns up."

"Okay, thank you, sir." Hermione got up and walked out of the office.

Ron ran up to her. "What did he say? Do they have it? Where is it? When will I get it? How-"

Hermione cut him off. "Ron, they don't have it. They're looking for it, but there's a good chance that it'll never show up. So until we can find somewhere to buy you some new clothes, you're going to have to work with what you've got." She looked down and wrinkled her nose. "Which isn't much, to be honest. How did I let you leave the house in those pants?"

* * *

"Taxi!" Ginny flagged down a yellow vehicle, which slowed in front of them.

"Harry, you take the kids to the hotel, and Ron, Hermione and I will come in the next taxi," Ginny instructed. They loaded their luggage into the trunk of the car (Ron looked sad) and Harry and the kids sped off.

Ginny could see the kids jumping around in the car and climbing all over Harry. She gave Hermione an evil grin. "That's why I made him take all of them," she smirked.

Meanwhile, Ron was attempting to stop a taxi, but everyone ignored him.

"Come on! I need a bloody taxi and you're all empty!" Ron exclaimed.

Ginny stepped out and, before she even waved her hand, a taxi stopped. "Oh, come on!" Ron exclaimed, frustrated. Ginny smirked and him, and they piled in and zoomed away from the airport.

"Wow, Hermione, look at the ocean!" Ginny rolled down the window and observed the sparkling water next to the road. The water was a deep blue.

"We don't get beaches like those back home," Hermione said, looking at the blinding white sand.

Twenty minutes later, their taxi pulled into the driveway of their resort. The immensely tall white building with blue curtains beckoned at them.

"How many floors d'you reckon there are?" Ron asked in awe.

"32," Hermione replied. "Let's get inside. Hopefully Harry's already checked us into our rooms and we can sleep for a while."

As it turned out, Harry did _not_ check them in.

* * *

"You WHAT?" Ginny almost yelled.

"They lost our reservation," James chimed in helpfully. Albus and Hugo were bouncing around the lobby, climbing on top of all the chairs and tables, while Rose and Lily were raiding the coffee bar. That wasn't going to end well either.

"How d'you lose a reservation?" Ron asked. They were all very tired and very irritable.

"I'm sorry, sir. There are three rooms opening up this afternoon, as the guests are checking out. I can have them cleaned for you by six o'clock this evening," the receptionist said apologetically.

"Six o'clock? It's only eleven in the morning! We've been on a plane for more hours than I can remember! We're tired!" Ginny said angrily.

"I'm terribly sorry, but there's nothing I can do. Can I offer you a free beverage coupon for while you wait?"

Ten minutes later the entire Potter-Weasley family was sitting outside, sipping from glasses of juice from the restaurant.

"We have a few hours- d'you want to do anything while we wait?" Harry asked the kids.

"I wanna go to the pool!" Rose and Lily cried in unison.

"No, I hate the pool! I want to go to the beach!" Albus and Hugo said together.

"You're dumb!"

"No, you!"

"YOU!"

"YOU!"

A wrestling match between the children ensued.

"I hate Hawaii," Hermione put her face in her hands.

* * *

Finally, it was 6 o'clock, and the Weasley-Potter family trudged back into the resort. They were tired, hungry, and about ready to kill the next person with bad news.

"Here are your room keys," the receptionist said. "Again, I'm terribly sorry about the wait. If there's anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable, please, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," Hermione said warmly. Maybe their vacation would _finally_ start going the way they wanted. They traipsed into the elevators and Harry pushed the button for floor 11.

"Alright, we're in Rooms 1124, 1125, and 1126," he announced.

"Finally, I can sleep in a _bed_," Ginny groaned, rubbing her neck. The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and the two families stepped into the hallway.

"Okay, rooms 1120-1180 are this way," said Harry, and he lead the group down the hall. They reached room 1124, and the group stopped. "Hermione and Ron, why don't you two take this room, Ginny and I will take room 1126, and the kids can be between us, in room 1125." Everyone nodded, too tired to do anything else. "Okay then, Rose, I'm giving you the key card because I know you won't lose it. You're in charge of the card, okay?"

Rose looked up at Harry reverently. "Okay, Uncle Harry. I promise not to lose it."

"How come she gets to keep the card? I'm oldest! That's not fair!" James whined.

"James, you know you'll lose it. Rose is the only responsible one, and you know it," Harry said. "Now stop whining. We're all too tired for this."

James grumbled, listened to Harry.

"Okay, Rose, do you know how to use the card?" Ginny asked.

"Yep," Rose said, and slid the card into the slot. The little light turned green, the lock whirred, and Rose turned the handle, pushing the door open. But before she could go in, James streaked past her, apparently not over the fact that Harry had given Rose the key.

"Oh, so THAT'S where babies come from," he said, staring at the bed.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Ginny pushed all the kids behind her and charged into the room. Two people were wrapped up in the sheets, and it was quite obvious what they had been up to.

"YOU MONSTERS! YOU TOOK AWAY MY CHILD'S INNOCENCE!" She yelled. Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran in to see what was happening, luckily keeping the rest of the kids out of the room to protect their "innocence."

"GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I HIT YOU WITH THIS!" Ginny picked up the TV and held it like a baseball bat.

The couple scampered out of the room, having wrapped themselves in the bed sheets. James made sure all of his siblings and cousins had their eyes covered.

Ginny sat down in the desk chair and took a deep breath. "When can we go back home?" she asked wearily.

"Uh, in a week?" Harry replied.

Everyone groaned. It was going to be a long trip.

* * *

**Please review!  
**

**"Vacay Part 2" will be out next week. **


	38. Vacay Part 2: Arguing With Rabid Donkeys

**If you didn't see my last author's note, we're going to start posting on Saturday instead of Friday.**

**Hope you enjoy part 2 of the Weasley-Potter family vacation!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Vacay Part 2: Arguing With Rabid Donkeys**

The Weasley-Potter family had decided to do a bit of sightseeing. It was going surprisingly well, considering all of yesterday's _events_. Apparently, the family's bad luck had passed them, like a summer storm.

"So we've seen the waterfall, the volcano, and maybe we can hit the lava tubes before dinner," Hermione counted off on her fingers.

"What are those, mum?" Hugo asked.

"They're tubes formed by lava. You know how when a lake freezes in the winter, only the surface turns into ice?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. And the water beneath is still liquid. It doesn't freeze like the water on top," Hugo said, demonstrating his knowledge of water's properties.

Hermione smiled proudly. "Yes, exactly. So the same thing happens to lava when a volcano erupts."

Rose jumped in here. "So while the lava was flowing down the volcano and into the island, the surface cooled off and turned into magma rock while the lava under it kept flowing?"

Hermione grinned. She'd raised them well. "Precisely!"

"And that means that they're underground, and we're going to be close to the source of the volcano?" Al asked, remembering learning this in school. "That's amazing!"

"My teacher told me that the volcanoes here could be almost one million years old!" Lily squealed.

Ron rolled his eyes, looking at Harry. "They're all so bloody _smart_," he grumbled. Harry and Ginny looked at each other and chuckled. The muggle schooling they'd given to the children had paid off well.

Albus and Lily both laughed too, but James looked a little troubled.

"Are you tired, Jamie?" Ginny asked.

"What? No, no, I'm fine." He smiled and went to catch up with Albus and Hugo.

"We'll head back to the hotel after the lava tubes," Harry said. "I think we're all a bit tired from yesterday."

"From what I've seen of today, I'm hoping that was just a fluke. Nothing's gone wrong so far; what else could happen?" Ron said optimistically.

* * *

"This lava tube, caused by the dormant volcano Mauna Loa, is over 164,000 feet long, or for the non-Americans out there, over 50 kilometers long. And for the kids out there, that's really long!" The guide said, earning chuckles and laughter from the group. "So please follow me, and we can go on to the next spot. Feel free to take pictures along the way, but please be careful- it's quite damp and slippery down here."

"Mum, I'm hungry!" Lily whined.

Ginny looked at the kids. "Who else is hungry?" Everyone except James raised their hands.

The tour guide looked up. "Walking through the tube could take more than an hour. There's a snack bar near the visitor's center, you could get something to eat then come back for the five o'clock tour."

"Alright, we'll do that, thanks!" Hermione said.

"Just be careful along the path and follow the signs so you don't get lost," warned the guide, and with that, the tour guide led the group into the tube, and the Potter-Weasley family started back on the path.

"I want everyone to hold hands with either Uncle Ron or Uncle Harry," Ginny directed. "Aunt Hermione and I will make sure we don't get lost."

Hermione pulled a map of the trails out of her purse. "We're on the green line, so if we keep following this path, we should reach the snack bar in twenty minutes or so." The family started off along the path.

Surrounding them on both sides were immense palm trees and shrubs.

"Wow… they're really beautiful," Hermione whispered, observing the nature around them. "It's so quiet."

"Look, a squirrel!" Lily pointed. Everyone oohed and aahed. Just being in Hawaii made everything exciting, it seemed.

"That's not a squirrel, Lily, it's a mongoose!" Ginny remembered reading about them. Everyone oohed and aahed.

Ron let go of Hugo's hand, picked up a stick about a head shorter than Hugo, and handed it to his son. "Now you're an explorer!"

Hermione chuckled. Ron did have a way with the kids.

Ron passed another branch to Rose. She and Hugo began running around, using their walking sticks and hitting trees with them.

"Let's not break Hawaii," Harry chimed in. "I don't think I can afford it." The entire family burst out laughing.

Hermione clutched a stitch to her side. "Alright, let's get moving. It's getting cloudy, so I don't want to be stuck out here in the rain. And, Lily's probably really hungry, she didn't eat that much bre- Where's Lily?"

Ginny whipped around. "WHAT?"

"She- she's not here!" Ron almost yelled. His face turned red almost immediately, which would have been funny if not for the direness of the situation.

"And…where are Al and James?" Harry began hobbling towards the treeline. "They were here just a second ago...James? Al?"

Ginny, meanwhile, was running around, tearing apart the bushes in her attempts to find her children.

"HOW DID I LOSE MY KIDS?" She groaned.

* * *

"Lily! Stop running! I can't even see Mum and Dad anymore!" James yelled, running after lily. Albus wasn't far behind, but he wasn't as athletic as his brother, and he was huffing and puffing (just not blowing any houses down).

"Al! Hurry up! You're going too slow!" James said, and Al frowned angrily. But he kept running, almost keeping up with James.

"We have to find Lily and get back before it gets dark, or everyone will be really worried," Al said, nervous.  
"What do you think we're trying to do, genius?" James asked sarcastically. "Wait! I see her! LILY!"

Lily turned around, pouting. "What, James? I was following the goose!"

James looked around, bewildered. "What goose?"

Al appeared, panting. He bent down, his hands on his knees, and breathing heavily, said, "I- think- she- meant- the- MON- goose." And he flopped onto the ground, utterly out of breath.

"Why did you come after me, James? I only went a couple of- oh." Lily cut off as she realized that they were in the middle of the forest, surrounded by huge palm trees on all sides. A clap of thunder echoed through the grove.

"It's going to rain soon," Albus said, getting up wearily.

"No kidding! And now we're lost! Lily, you're so stupid! Why'd you have to go running off after the mongoose?" James raged.

"I dunno, I thought it was cute!" Lily looked to be on the verge of tears.

"James, stop. Help me think of a way to find mum and dad," Albus said, his face looking fearful but determined.

"How can I help? I'm the dumbest in the family!" James exclaimed angrily. He sat down on a rock and crossed his arms.

"What?" Lily asked.

"You heard them. 'Rosie and Hugo are so smart. Lily and Albus are too.' But what am I? I don't have brains! No one even trusts me with the key card for the hotel room!"

Albus sighed. "At least you can play Quidditch! I'm so unathletic that all the boys laugh at me at school! I can't even catch a ball, let alone throw one!"

"At least you have amazing grades!" James retaliated.

"You're definitely Dad's favorite, that's why he's always playing with you in the backyard! Maybe you're not as smart as others, but at least_ you're_ accepted at school," Albus finished. It seemed as though he'd had that on his chest for a while.

"Yeah, well, everyone thinks of me as the stupid kid who does all the sports but flunks maths class!" James exclaimed.

"Well, maybe if you tried harder at schoolwork instead of trying to look cool all the time you'd do better," Albus hissed. "Me, I'm called 'Albie the nerdy' at school. How d'you think that feels, James? I'm not even as much of a bookworm as Hugo, but I'm the one being teased because I'm being compared to you!"

"Well-" James began, looking furious.

Albus continued, his voice gaining volume at every word. "Everyone's comparing me to you. Especially the coaches. 'James is so good at football, why aren't you?' Or, 'James scored two goals last game, but you didn't even make it off the bench!'"

"STOP!" Lily shouted. Both Albus and James looked at her, startled. "You two don't even understand. At least you two are close! I feel so left out! You both always go and do fun, brother things together and leave me to play all by myself! You don't even _try_ to make me feel included! James, you think you're not smart? Well, guess what, you're right! Because you don't even notice when your own _sister_ is upset! And Al, you think you're the only one who gets compared to people? I get compared to both of you! AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT COMPARED MEANS!"

Lily opened her mouth to speak some more when a loud snort cut her off.

"James? Didn't Mum tell you not to have beans?" Albus asked uncertainly.

"That wasn't me!" James said.

Lily squeaked and pointed. Across their clearing was a donkey.

"Is the mouth supposed to be foaming?" James asked.

"No! That means it's rabid!" Albus said shrilly.

"How can a donkey be rabid?"

"I don't know, why don't you go and ask him?"

"Shhh!" Lily chastised. "Maybe he didn't see us."

"If he bites one of us, we're gonna get sick! James, do something!" Albus hissed.

"Why me?" James asked. "Why don't you-" Albus clapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. The donkey turned its head, his eyes wild but focused on the three kids. It had spotted them.

* * *

"Where could they have gone?" Ginny asked frantically. "I looked away for two seconds! And there are no footprints!"

"We need to get to the visitor's center and have the park rangers help us look," Hermione said seriously. "I'll go with Harry, Rose, and Hugo back to the visitor's center. Ginny, you and Ron keep searching. If you find anything, send up sparks. And, here-" she pulled a tin of mints out of her purse. "Drop these behind you as you go through the forest so you won't get lost. And carve an X every few trees so we can find you. Alright?"

Ginny didn't appear to be listening, but Ron nodded.

"We'll see you soon. Hugo, grab Uncle Harry's hand, and Rosie, take mine." With that, Hermione and Harry set off for the visitor's center at a rapid pace.

"We'll find them, Gin, don't worry," Ron said. "We have to."

* * *

"He's _foaming_!" James whispered in horror, slowly backing away from the donkey.

"Yes, James, we've been over this before. It's rabid! And if it bites you, you'll get rabies too! So move away!" Al whispered impatiently, backing away too. Only Lily stayed, frozen in fear. She couldn't move, and no matter how many times James and Al whispered her name, she stood stock still.

"We need to get Lily away from that beast. Okay, I have an idea," Al said thoughtfully.

"Why should I listen to your idea? I'm not smart enough to understand it," James muttered, still angry.

Al looked at him reproachfully. "James, I know you're mad at me, but we have to work together to save Lily. This idea won't work without you and your athletic abilities."

James sighed. "Okay, what is it?"

Albus began whispering to him.

* * *

"AL? JAMES? LILY?" Ginny was yelling through the trees desperately. Ron trailed behind her, dropping the green colored mints onto the forest floor.

"Oh, it's hopeless. How are we going to find them in such a big forest?" Ginny said dejectedly.

"Wait… d'you hear that?" Ron's head perked up. "It sounds like yelling…"

"It must be them!" Ginny started running towards the sounds of voices.

* * *

"Ready?" Albus asked. James nodded.

"Three… two… one!" The two burst out from behind a tree and sprinted towards the donkey.

"Hit it between the legs, James!" Albus cried. "I read about it!"

James swung his giant branch threateningly and went straight for the donkey, who turned and faced James as though he was about to charge.

Meanwhile, Albus ran towards Lily and grabbed her arm. "Titanic is playing on the telly," he whispered.

Lily shrieked. "KATE WINSLET!" She came out of her fear induced trance, just as Albus had expected. He led her to the treeline and they each picked up branches, ready to help James.

James, for his part, was doing very well. He used the branch to whack the donkey on its snout, then dodged its foaming mouth every time it came near. He swerved to the left and right, jumped over the donkey's snout, and landed on its back.

"James!" Lily cried in awe. The two ran towards the bucking donkey and whacked it in the legs. The animal squealed and fell to the ground. James rolled off its back and grabbed Lily's hand.

"GO!" the three ran away from the donkey as fast as they could. And this time, Albus kept the same pace as James.

* * *

"LILY! JAMES! ALBUS!" Ginny shouted, pushing past branches and shrubbery. The branches would snap back and whip Ron in the face, as he was jogging behind Ginny and was too slow to stop the branches.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Suddenly, James jumped out of the trees to Ginny and Ron's right. He was followed by Al and Lily, and all three children landed on Ron, and the four fell to the ground, Ron squashed by three pairs of arms and legs.

"Someone's knee is in my stomach!"

"Someone's butt is in my face!"

"Someone's face is in my butt!"

"MY BABIES!" Ginny yelled, and she pulled the children off of Ron, hugging and kissing each one. "Where did you go? What happened?"

"I saw a mongoose and followed it. It was my fault, Mummy," Lily admitted, her eyes tearing up.

"Lily! Why would you do that?" Ginny scolded.

"Don't blame her, Mum. I followed her to try and bring her back, but I couldn't catch her. It was my fault." James said.

"I followed James, but I couldn't bring either of them back, so it was my fault."

Ginny looked at the three, amused. "But what really happened?"

"There was a rabid donkey!" Lily said, her eyes wide. "But Albus thought of a really good plan to save me!"

"A RABID WHAT?" Ginny's smile faded.

"Yeah! James went to the donkey to distract it while Albus got me out of there, and then we both got giant branches and BAM! The donkey didn't know what hit him!" Lily punched the palm of her hand.

"Albus, that was incredibly smart but incredibly stupid! And, James, that was so brave of you but YOU COULD HAVE DIED! WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?"

Albus caught James's eye and they both grinned.

* * *

The rest of the week passed quickly, thankfully rabid-donkey-free, and on the last day of the trip all of the kids were complaining about going back home.

"Mum, do we have to?" Lily whined.

"I'm fine with leaving, to be honest. I miss the library," Rose said.

"I had fun! I don't wanna leave!" James cried.

"England is so boring!" Hugo and Albus complained together..

"Don't worry, everyone. I think we might be able to come back next year," Harry winked.

"YAY!" chorused the kids.

"NOOO!" the adults all groaned.

* * *

**What did you all think? Please review!**

**Next week: Timid and shy, she never fits in at school, though she always tries. **


	39. Be Who You Are

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Thanks to all our reviewers from last chapter. Again we really appreciate it!**

**Just in case any of you didn't see it from last week, we've moved posting from Friday to Saturday. **

**One of our reviewers of last chapter, Lily Rose, was wondering about if "Albie the nerdy" was really accurate as a description of him, and no, it isn't, and we don't really expect many people to have called him that, but we wanted to show that Albus feels less than adequate than James, and of course he'd feel a little more "nerdy" compared to James, who was really good at almost every sport he did. Sorry if that was unclear!**

**This is also our longest chapter so far! **

**Ages: **

_Teddy 18_

_Vic 16_

_Dom 14_

_Molly 13_

_Louis 12_

_James 11_

_Fred 11_

_Albus 10_

_Rose 10_

_Roxanne 8_

_Lucy 8_

_Hugo 8_

_Lily 8_

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**Be Who You Are**

"Have fun today at school, Molly!" Audrey hugged her thirteen-year-old eldest daughter. "You'll definitely ace that test!"

Percy had decided that since he was a "vital" part of the Ministry of Magic, his children needed to learn about politics. So Percy had signed them up for a summer school that specialized in teaching children all about politics; there were seven classes a day, each one forty-five minutes, and each one teaching a specific skill set or subjects that every politician had to know, such as public speaking, speech-writing, current events, debating, and more. Audrey wasn't really happy about it, but she knew that there would be no way to stop her husband from doing this, so she tried to be supportive.

"Thanks, mum." Molly smiled and walked out of the kitchen, where Percy was waiting to drive her to school.

Audrey turned to Lucy, who was busy packing up her bag for school. Lucy was almost five years younger than her sister, so she went to school half an hour later.

"Here's your lunch, Lucy," Audrey handed over a lunchbox, "And why don't I invite Holly over today? It'll be fun!"

"No!" Lucy said quickly. "I mean, I have a test tomorrow, I need to study." She took the lunch, smiled at Audrey, then hurried out to catch her bus.

* * *

"I want everyone to take a worksheet and find a partner to work on these problems!" Ms. Sassafras said, smiling. Her yellow dress blended in with the bright yellow walls of the room so well, if you looked at her from the right angle, it would appear as though her head was floating.

Lucy gasped sharply. _Partner work? _ She got up from her chair and went to pick up a worksheet. Around her, everyone was partnering up with their friends.

_What do I do?_ She couldn't very well work alone, everyone would know she had no friends. And she couldn't go to the teacher because then she'd announce to the entire class, "Lucy doesn't have a partner? Who would like to work with her?", which would be even worse.

Lucy scanned the room once more and gasped with relief. There was Holly, her neighbor! They could work together. Lucy waded through the crowd of kids and made a beeline to Holly.

"Er- hi, Holly? Can- can I work with you? P-please?" Lucy asked timidly, losing her nerve. She hated how she could never talk to people without stuttering or forgetting what she was going to say.

Holly wrinkled her nose. "Um, no, I'm working with Boolinda, thanks," and with that, she flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder and turned to Boolinda.

* * *

"Ugh, did you hear Lucy asking if she could work with me in maths class today?" Holly said to her posse as they walked down the corridor.

"Honestly, she has no friends, that girl, she's so _weird!_ Her face is always in a book and she never talks to anyone," her friend Tabatha said.

Lucy, only a few steps behind them, heard the nasty remarks that the group was making about her. Unable to take it anymore, she turned around and walked the other way, deciding to take the long way to the lunchroom, once again walking alone in the corridor.

* * *

"Lucy? Is that you?" Audrey called from the kitchen.

No answer.

"Lucy?"

Still no answer.

"Lucy Weasley!"

"..."

"LUCILE BELLE CLAIRE WEASLEY! YOU WILL ANSWER ME THIS INSTANT, OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL TAKE AWAY ALL OF YOUR BOOKS!"

"Go ahead. Take them. See if I care."

"Lucy? What is going on with you? I don't think I've ever heard anything so rude come out of your mouth _ever_!" Audrey had come out of the kitchen by now and was in the hallway, watching Lucy as she kicked off her shoes and shoved her coat onto the rack. Lucy threw her backpack down onto the floor, and it slid until it hit Audrey's feet. Audrey looked down at the backpack, raised an eyebrow, and looked back up at Lucy.

Lucy sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm not doing my homework, anyway."

Audrey frowned, confused. "What? But you love school! What's wrong?"

"I'm not going back to school, either."

"What? Why? What's going on, Lucy?" Audrey asked. But Lucy ignored her, walking past Audrey and going up to her room. Audrey sighed.

* * *

Sure enough, Lucy ended up going to school the next day, only because Audrey called Molly (the older one) up and had her give Lucy an important lecture on staying in school and not doing drugs and whatnot.

As Lucy walked into her classroom, Ms. Sassafras greeted her warmly. "Lucy! The school library has just received the new book you wanted!" She held out a book, fresh off the presses, the binding still stiff, and Lucy had to suppress an urge to grab the book and begin reading immediately.

She saw Holly staring at her out of the corner of her eye and sighed. "Ms. Sassafras, I'll take the book before lunch so I don't need to carry it around with me. Thank you." She took her seat in the front of the room, horribly aware of the snickers and whispers of "nerd" and "bookworm" that punctuated the air around her.

* * *

"Time for lunch!" Ms. Sassafras clapped her hands and opened the door. The class filed out slowly, Lucy leaving last.

"Wait! Lucy! Take the book!" Ms. Sassafras held it out to Lucy, who grudgingly took it and tried to smile.

"Thank you." She left the room and walked into the corridor, which was luckily devoid of students as everyone had already gone to lunch.

Lucy sighed. It looked like she'd be sitting alone today, just like every other day. She began to walk down the corridor when she heard, "Hey, Lucy!"

Lucy turned around hopefully, then gasped. It was Holly, Boolinda, and Tabatha. They all grinned evilly at her and approached her. Lucy took a step back and clutched her notebook and the novel Ms. Sassafras gave her tightly.

"What- what do you want?" she squeaked.

"N-n-nothing," Holly imitated. "We just wanted to say hi, is all. Unless your face is buried in that book?"

"N-no!" Lucy grabbed for her book as Boolinda snatched it out of her hands. Tabatha knocked Lucy's notebook out of her grasp and it fell with a loud thud.

"I wonder if you can read books even when they're wet… Let's go find out, shall we?" Tabatha taunted.

"No!" But it was too late. The three girls sprinted into the bathroom, Lucy following close behind.

Boolinda pushed Lucy against the wall. Holly opened the stall door and held the book over the toilet.

"You're just a dumb book-worm who has no friends! You're such a weird freak! You should take your stupid book and go where you belong- in here!" She dropped the novel into the toilet and flushed it.

"No!" Lucy cried.

Boolinda, Holly, and Tabatha laughed evilly and exited the bathroom. Lucy ran to the stall and grabbed the book. It was ruined.

* * *

"Lucy? Where are you?" Molly asked, walking down the hall. "We have to leave for the Burrow! Family dinner now!"

Lucy stayed silent, hidden in her favorite spot. It was a cozy little corner in between the brown couch and the wall in their TV room. She loved it because the room was always sunny and warm, and she felt calm and peaceful in there, leaving her room to think or just relax. And plus, there was a heating vent right there too, which was always a bonus.

Molly's face appeared in Lucy's vision. "I knew you were back here!" Molly sounded very proud of herself. She tried to squeeze in behind the chair, but she was too tall. "Never mind, I'll just sit out here," she said, sitting on the ground next to the chair instead of behind it. "So, why are you so down?"

Lucy sighed. Looks like she would have to talk after all. "I don't have any friends at school. I'm all alone."

Molly looked confused. "But what about Holly, the girl who lives next door? Isn't she your best friend?"

Lucy sat up, tears stinging her eyes. "No. She's not my friend."

"What? What happened?"

"She bullies me."

Molly sat up straight, shocked. "What? That's ridiculous. Why would anyone bully you? Why would anyone bully anyone? That doesn't make sense."

But Lucy just frowned. She knew it would turn out like this, she knew Molly wouldn't believe her. Molly knew everyone, and even the people she didn't know wanted to know her. She was everyone's best friend, a social butterfly, and she just wouldn't understand this. She _couldn't_ understand it. She didn't believe that anyone could be so mean as to hurt someone else for no reason at all.

Molly smiled. "Anyway, no one's bullying you. That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. Come on now, we're going to be late for the family dinner." And with that, Molly got up, brushed the dust off her clothes with a disdainful look, and walked away.

Lucy sighed, tears coming to her eyes again. She really hated Molly in this moment, with her sleek, perfect, dark red hair, her brown eyes that were the same color as Lucy's but looked so much better on her, and her tall, lithe figure. And to top it all off, she was extremely intelligent too. Nothing had ever seemed less fair to Lucy than this did right now, but she had a family dinner to go to, so she stood up, wiped her eyes, smoothed down her dress, and followed Molly out the door.

* * *

"Percy, Audrey! Come in, come in." Arthur ushered in the family. "Molly's just finished making dinner." Wonderful smells wafted in from the kitchen.

"Smells lovely. Now I'll take the coats upstairs. Molly, Lucy, why don't you go see your cousins?" Percy asked, already down to business.

"Alright, dad," Molly said. Lucy didn't reply. Molly grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her into the sitting room, where all of their cousins were assembled.

James and Fred were sneakily doing something with a can of shaving cream- Lucy didn't want to know what, although she suspected the prank would be revealed by the end of the night. Albus and Rose were talking about some Muggle television show they had watched. Meanwhile, Roxanne, Hugo, and Lily were attempting to build something out of paper and popsicle craft sticks, and Louis and Dom were watching the scene with a slightly condescending air. They were the oldest in the room, after all, and seemed to enjoy the feeling.

Molly joined Louis and Dom on the couch, while Lucy hung back, her thoughts stamping out her desire to join her cousins.

_Even they don't need me, _she thought. _They're all doing stuff without me, and no one wants me to join them! _It was true, not a single Weasley cousin had even noticed Lucy. They all continued to do whatever they were doing. Lucy didn't know what to do. If she joined them they'd probably ignore her, or at least they wouldn't include her the way Molly was, and then Lucy would feel even more awkward. She needed to leave.

She took a deep breath and exited the room, head hung low.

* * *

"Kids! Dinner!" Molly (the older one) called up the stairs. Quite a few pairs of feet could be heard on the steps as the kids filed into the dining room.

"Come on, eat up, you all look a bit peaky!" Molly smiled. She loved when the entire family was all here, happy and content, eating good food, talking and laughing together.

As Molly surveyed her grandchildrens' heads, her maternal radar began beeping.

"Where's Lucy?" she asked suddenly.

Percy and Audrey got up immediately.

"She came in with Molly, didn't she?" Dom looked at her cousin.

"I thought she was playing with Hugo, Lily, and Roxy!" Molly (the younger one) said.

"I thought I saw her reading in the corner," Louis chimed in.

"We thought she was with Al and Rosie," Fred and James popped into the conversation.

"WELL, WHERE DID SHE GO?" Molly asked, very nicely and quietly.

"Maybe she's just in the bathroom, mum. Don't get so stressed," Ginny tried to soothe Molly.

"No! My maternal senses are tingling. Something's wrong. I can feel it!" Molly insisted. "Lucy just isn't in the bathroom. The maternal radar is telling me this much."

George snickered under his breath, but Angelina smacked him. "Alright, let's go upstairs and check. Molly's maternal radar is never wrong."

"We'll take the top floor," Harry gestured to himself and Ginny. "'Mione, you and Ron search outside. Percy, Audrey, you take the basement. George and Angelina should check the closets, bedrooms, anywhere she could be hiding.

"Kids, you stay here. Hard enough to keep track of you all as it is. Dom, Louis, Molly, you're in charge." As he said names Harry pointed to each person with his cane, as he had developed that habit in the past few years.

"And what about us?" Arthur asked, indicating himself and his wife.

"Um… Mum, yell really loud for Lucy. Maybe she'll hear?" George said.

"LUCY!" Molly shrieked. The entire room shook.

* * *

Harry and Ginny had searched all of the top floor but with no luck. Lucy wasn't anywhere to be found.

"I'll check with the others," Ginny said. Harry nodded. "HAS ANYONE FOUND ANYTHING YET?" Ginny yelled out the window.

"NO! NOTHING!" yelled back Molly, who had been doing a fine job with all the yelling.

Percy shouted, "SHE'S NOT IN THE BASEMENT, although I did find a selection of good political books- I MEAN, LET'S KEEP SEARCHING!"

"GEORGE, ANGELINA, WHAT ABOUT YOU?"

"NOTHING EITHER!" Angelina yelled. She and George had split up.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" George cried.

"GEORGE? WHAT HAPPENED?" Angelina yelled, running over to George. The rest of the family swarmed to George as well.

George turned and slammed the closet door shut. "Uh, uh, nothing!" he managed, an odd look on his face. "Why don't we go and see if Ron and Hermione have made any progress?" And with that, George all but ran out the front door, leaving the rest of the family with worried looks on their faces. But they chalked it up to George being George, shrugged, and dispersed back to their designated areas to search.

* * *

"George, what happened back there?" Angelina hissed.

"Nothing, nothing. I, uh, saw a mirror and got scared?" he fumbled to make an excuse.

"Oh…" Angelina trailed off thoughtfully, which was good for George because what he had really seen was quite scarring.

_George ran down the stairs, opening every door on the landing. He got to the cupboard where Molly kept her cleaning supplies and wrenched the door open. _

_There stood Teddy and Victoire, lips locked together. _

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" George cried. _

George shuddered. He'd have to keep this a secret, though. He didn't think the family knew about Teddy and Victoire either, however, so he didn't want to be the one to reveal it to everyone. And, everyone would know he got scared by two teenagers kissing.

* * *

Lucy wiped away a tear. She hid behind a bush in the backyard, sniffling. _I'm just a stupid bookworm. I don't have any friends because I'm weird! _Every word Holly, Boolinda, and Tabatha had said was seared into Lucy's mind so deeply that she had begun to believe them.

Lucy let out a sob and gulped it back in just as quickly as she heard voices.

"Lucy? Lucy!" She heard Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron calling out her name. Lucy pushed herself behind the bush further so they wouldn't spot her.

"What was that?" she heard Hermione ask.

"I dunno… here, you take the yard and I'll go up to the hill where we used to play Quidditch. Maybe she went up there," Ron said.

Lucy could hear Hermione calling out her name softly, but she figured Hermione wouldn't be able to find her because she hidden pretty well.

Apparently, she wasn't hidden well at all because the next moment, Hermione appeared in front of her bush and said, "Lucy! What are you doing back there?"

_Darn. _"Nothing… I just… I felt like being alone," Lucy mumbled. She didn't want to confess to Hermione what she'd been feeling.

Hermione squeezed in behind the bush next to Lucy. "What's going on, Luce?" Hermione asked quietly, her eyes concerned.

Lucy couldn't hold it in anymore, especially not when Hermione was looking at her like that, like she was worried. Sobs escaped Lucy, and Hermione held her tightly. "I don't have any friends at school," she admitted, lifting her head to look at Hermione. Hermione just looked at Lucy, listening silently.

Lucy took one look into her Aunt Hermione's eyes and crumbled, more tears falling down her face as she poured out her story. How Holly had used to be her best friend but was now her biggest bully, and how she didn't know why Holly hated her, how Holly and her friends had ruined the _brand new library book_ that had still smelled like fresh paper and ink, and how Lucy had cried and cried and _cried_ over this but had no one to turn to, no one to talk to. And Hermione sat and listened, with that kind face and those knowing eyes that made Lucy feel as though she could tell her anything, so Lucy told her about how Molly hadn't understood, how Molly was perfect in every way and _obviously_ she wouldn't understand, and finally Lucy collapsed, just breathing, _just being_, listening to her aunt's steady heartbeat.

Hermione sighed, her heart breaking as she watched her niece break down in front of her. _Life is so unfair sometimes_, she thought. "Lucy?"

Lucy looked up.

"I know what you're going through. I've been through this before, too," Hermione admitted. She cringed a little. The bullying she had gone through was something that she tried never to speak about or think about. She had promised herself that she would put it behind her, that she would move on, because it was too painful to talk about. But for Lucy's sake, she would be strong.

"You have?" Lucy asked, surprised. Her aunt was the smartest person she knew. Why would anyone bully her? And then it hit her. "You mean Draco Malfoy? Because you didn't have magical parents?"

"No, not him. Well, yes, but that never really bothered me. I had Uncle Ron and Uncle Harry, and they protected me. They made me realize that I was none of the things Malfoy called me. But I'm talking about before Hogwarts, when I went to a Muggle school. There were these four girls who bullied me. They said I was weird because I was always reading, and they called me ugly because of my bushy hair and buck teeth.

"My teeth, I changed during my fourth year, when Malfoy cast a spell on my teeth to make them grow really long. My hair, I've learned to love. But I have never, ever been ashamed of my love of reading. It's what's gotten me this far in life, and I think about those girls sometimes and wonder, if they loved reading too, I wonder how far they could've gone?

"But you should never be ashamed of your appearance, Lucy. Or your love of books. After all, knowledge is power. Be who you are. I'm very proud of you." Hermione kissed Lucy on the head, and then left her to her thoughts.

Lucy watched her aunt in awe. She had always known that Hermione was strong, but this knowledge made Lucy respect her so much more. Lucy knew that she would never again doubt herself or be ashamed of herself. She would stand up to Holly, Boolinda, and Tabatha and show them that she was strong, just like her Aunt Hermione.

* * *

"Hey, Ugly Lucy! Where are you going to cry this time? Maybe you should try the library, I hear they've got a corner just for losers like you!" Tabatha taunted. Holly and Boolinda sashayed behind her, flipping their hair.

"Hi, Holly," Lucy said, smiling pleasantly, holding the newest novel of her favorite series in her hand.

"What book is that? _Loser Academy: Lucy, the Biggest Nerd_?" Holly smirked. "Give it here."

"No." Lucy smiled again. "You see, I don't care what you do anymore. Before you could bully me because you had power over me- I was thinking the same things that you would always say, and I felt weak. I didn't believe in myself.

"But now I know to accept who I am- Maybe I am a nerd, a bookworm who has no friends! But I don't care what you think of me, because I love who I am and nothing can ever change that. Especially not three bullies who didn't even know 6 times 6 is 36.

"Oh, and if you want to take my books and shred them up or dump them in the toilet, _these are library books. _The librarian will be after your heads if you so much as wrinkle a page."

Holly glared at Lucy as though she was still trying to understand what Lucy had been saying.

Then she turned to Boolinda and Tabatha and said, "Come on, let's get out of here," and they sashayed away, flipping their hair. As Holly flipped her hair over her shoulder, the janitor, who was vacuuming the carpet of the nearest classroom with a hand-held vacuum, turned around. Holly's hair was sucked into it and she shrieked, falling back into the vacuum. Tabatha and Boolinda, looking scared, ran away, Holly calling after them.

Lucy heard Hermione's words repeating in her head. _Be who you are. I'm proud of you._

And Lucy was proud of herself, too.

* * *

**So what did you think? Please review!  
**

**Next week: A family picnic can always been fun, but with the Weasleys and some special _guests_ it's bound to be at least 7 times the fun, maybe more. **

**And wow, we're already at 137 reviews! Thanks everyone! Let's see if we can try to get to 150 before this story is over! 11 more one-shots to go!  
**


	40. Happiness

**Hey guys, thanks for all the support we got last chapter!**

**For last week's oneshot confusion: some people were puzzled about the ages of the kids and why Lucy and Molly were in school, etc. So we sent a reply to the reviewers with accounts, but those guest reviewers we couldn't reply directly so we'll just tell you what happened here: **

**So we were really busy that past week and ended up not being able to write until the weekend. Then Saturday rolled along and next thing we knew we had to post and we only had a quarter of this one-shot done! So we rushed the writing and didn't have the time to properly read and edit it as we would have liked. **

**That one-shot takes place in the summer. We originally were going to write a whole scene where Percy enrolls the girls in a Muggle summer school because he thought that summer school was for extra work and would be good for them to do extra schoolwork. (Audrey couldn't convince him otherwise). So that's why the girls were in school during the summer. But because of our time crunch we ended up forgetting to write that entire scene! To fix our mistake, edited the chapter and put in the summer school scene. **

**We're really sorry and quite frankly embarrassed about this. But we promise it won't happen again. Thank you for catching the mistake and for being loyal readers, and we hope you continue to read the Life We've Dreamed of! **

**To avoid anymore confusion we'll start putting in the dates and ages of each Weasley child in the Author's note.  
**

_Oneshot takes place August of 2017 (the summer before the epilogue)_

_{Note: the kids are arranged in order of birth so if there's a bunch of kids aged 8 for example, going down the list would be oldest to youngest}_

_Teddy- 19_

_Victoire-17_

_Dominique-15_

_Molly II- 13_

_Louis- 13_

_James- 12_

_Fred- 12_

_Rose- 11_

_Albus- 11_

_Roxanne- 9_

_Lucy-9_

_Hugo- 9_

_Lily- 8 (almost 9)_

**We hope this week's oneshot makes up for last week!**

* * *

**Happiness**

"Are you all ready?" Bill poked his head into the sitting room. "We're going to be late!"

His three kids, Victoire, Dominique, and Louis were now all teenagers, and all three of them simultaneously rolled their eyes.

Dominique groaned. "Dad, I want to go meet my friends at the Muggle movie theater!"

Vic grimaced. "I'm going into my final year at Hogwarts, and thus my final summer of relaxation. Do I really need to spend the last few weeks with family, while I could be sleeping?"

Louis scratched his nose. "I don't want a repeat of 'the incident'," he said. 'The incident' involved a dish of buttered peas hitting him square in the face and three bowls of gravy being spilled onto his head.

Fleur walked in. "You are all coming to ze family picnic, or so help me I will never cook anozzer _pêche Melba _again!"

Vic, Dom, and Louis all blanched- that was their favorite dessert.

"Fine… we'll come… I guess," Vic sighed.

* * *

"Time to go, Molly, Lucy!" Audrey called up the stairs of their home. Two pairs of feet could be heard thundering down the steps at their mother's call.

Molly emerged from the stairwell first, her long red hair swinging over her shoulder as she read over a piece of paper.

"What's that, Molly?" Audrey asked.

"Just Herbology homework," she replied, not looking up from her parchment. "Professor Longbottom assigned three essays!" She was heading into her fourth year and was already beginning to prepare for her OWL's as well. She had expressed interest in a Ministry Career, something Percy was incredibly pleased to hear.

"Make sure you say hello to Neville for us once you head back to school." Audrey smiled. Neville worked in the Leaky Cauldron with his wife, Hannah, over the summer, and once September rolled around he went back to Hogwarts to teach Herbology.

Lucy came down next, clutching a book in her hand.

Ever since she'd gotten rid of those bullies from last year, Lucy had blossomed. She had top marks in all of her classes, was still an avid reader, and had formed a book club with four of her classmates. Their group was very close and Lucy finally felt as though she was being accepted, which filled Audrey's heart with joy.

"Let's go meet dad in the car," Audrey said. This picnic that Molly and Arthur called was bound to be eventful in one way or another, and she didn't want to be late.

* * *

"Rosie! As much as I hate to say this, it's almost noon, and if we're late to the picnic grandmum will kill dad and me! So you'd better stop reading!" Hermione shuddered as she uttered those words, 'stop reading'.

Rose was about to enter her first year of Hogwarts, and she had been spending weeks reading her textbooks and studying so she could "be prepared". Hermione smiled fondly. She'd done the same thing when she was eleven.

Hugo, meanwhile, was finishing up a painting he was creating for art class. Since he was two years younger than his sister, he obviously would be left behind after Rose left for Hogwarts and he'd need something to occupy his time. And thus he discovered his artistic ability.

Hermione was incredibly proud of both of her children, although she didn't really think she could appreciate their talents once she went deaf, because almost certainly they were going to be late and that meant Molly would yell at them quite loudly. This was guaranteed because, on top of her children being late, Hermione had no idea where her dearest husband, Ronald, was.

She sighed.

* * *

"FRED!" Roxanne shrieked, swatting at her twelve year old brother, who grinned evilly and ran from the room.

"Ugh! Mum!" Roxanne yelled, wiping some of the pie out of her eyes. Fred had snuck up behind his sister while she wasn't looking and smashed a pie in her face.

Angelina and George hurried in to survey the situation. They looked at each other and sighed. They were definitely going to be late, and Molly would have their heads.

* * *

"Over here! No, not there, Ron, here!" Molly yelled, waving and smiling. She was standing on top of a beautiful, grassy hill. There was a slight breeze but the sun was bright. The town next to the Burrow could be seen from this height and looked very picturesque. Molly felt very happy. Her family was coming together, which happened every week, true, but she always looked forward to these meetings.

Arthur was grinning beside her. Next to him was a giant picnic basket, magically enlarged to fit all of Molly's cooking (it was surprising all the food she made had fit, even with magic).

Slowly each family with their kids in tow trudged up the hill and exchanged greetings, hugs, and handshakes.

"Sit down, sit down, everyone!" Arthur exclaimed jovially, opening the giant picnic basket and bringing out ice cold bottles of Butterbeer and pumpkin juice.

Bill and Ron laid down a red checkered blanket onto the warm grass and the Weasleys sank down onto it.

The family immediately divided into separate conversations, as they always did. However, Molly prided herself on the fact that everyone almost always got along and would speak to everyone at one point or another (not including some minor 'incidents').

Percy and Bill immediately descended into talk about the Ministry and foreign trade policy.

"We think it's necessary for trading to increase with certain countries," Percy was saying.

"I suppose so, but over at Gringotts we reckon keeping a lot of our economy based here in England would be better for us as a whole," Bill countered.

Molly II was listening intently to her father and her uncle's conversation.

Meanwhile, George, Hermione, and Ron were discussing the joke shop.

"Grand opening of our third store was last week," George said, taking a swig of butterbeer. "We're so busy Ron and I barely have time to manage our own store, let alone the other two."

George had promoted Ron to "Co-Manager", which was "an immense honor that would surpass anything Ron had ever done, ever" in George's words.

"Well, I'm quite busy working on the new House-Elf workplace Rights Bill, which we're sending in for approval by Wizengamot on September 18th. But I'm sure I could help on the weekends and organize your finances for you," Hermione offered.

On the other side of the blanket (it was a large blanket) the older kids were telling their younger cousins stories of some of their exploits in Hogwarts.

"Then, I opened the door and found Louis snogging Mary Simondes in the broom closet!" Dom sniggered.

"Dom! Don't tell them that!" Louis turned red.

"Ooh, Vic, tell us the story of the time you put shaving cream in McGonagall's desk," Dom looked up at her sister.

"That was fun." Vic straightened up and began her story. "Well, the main problem was obtaining that much shaving cream…"

On the right side of the blanket, Fleur, Angelina, and Audrey were all complaining about "gross things their husbands did" and laughing at every story.

"And then, George left his mud encrusted, bug infested shoes on our bed. But, the best part, he _left them on his own pillow!_" Angelina laughed. "I didn't tell him about it 'til the next day!"

All three of them burst out laughing.

During all of this, Molly and Arthur surveyed the scene happily.

"When do you think we should begin to bring out the food?" Arthur asked. "I think we should start with…Molly?"

Molly was staring at the family. "Wait… where are Harry and Ginny?"

Arthur looked over, and indeed, Harry and Ginny were missing. "Relax, Mollywobbles. They could just be running late. Don't worry about them."

* * *

As it turned out, Molly did not have to worry for long, because after a few minutes, there was a loud CRACK!

A few moments later, Ginny and Lily emerged over the crest of the hill. Albus, James, and Teddy. followed behind them. The three children were bouncing on the balls of their feet like they were waiting for something exciting to happen, while Teddy grinned somewhat awkwardly, his hair brown today, the same color as his father's.

Molly got up to greet them. "Ginny, how are you doing, dear?"

"I'm doing great, mum. But you'll be even happier when you see what's happened," Ginny was grinning as though her face was permanently molded into that expression.

Ginny turned around and pointed. Molly followed her gaze and immediately saw what her daughter was so elated about. She gasped and dropped her pumpkin juice.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. She and Ron immediately got to their feet and ran to their best friend, who grinned at the sight of them.

The rest of the family, realizing what the commotion was, followed suit and rushed over. They all buzzed around Harry, but every face was beaming.

Harry had walked up the hill. _Without his cane. _

"Blimey!" Ron shouted. "Where's the cane, Harry?"

Harry laughed. "I don't need it anymore!" His eyes seemed oddly bright but the grin on his face was most prevalent.

Molly felt her eyes tearing up. Harry had suffered for too many years… it had been so long, _too long_, since he'd walked without the cane, since that wretched Enigma had taken so much from him. He didn't deserve that, not after everything he had been through. But now, here he was, walking freely again.

Suddenly, Harry had to fend off three attacks, first from his sisters-in-law, then from his nieces and nephews, and finally a huge hug from Molly.

"Did they find a way to let you get rid of your cane magically?" Hermione asked, her eyes glistening.

"They had him on physical therapy for six months again. The Healers thought it would be prime time to start and see if he could do it, and he did!" Ginny sounded extremely proud.

"How come you didn't tell us?" George demanded.

"We wanted it to be a surprise!" James burst out. It seemed as though he'd been waiting to reveal the secret for months, which, of course, he had been.

Vic rounded on Teddy. "Did you know about this?"

His hair turned red. "Uh, yeah, I did," he said sheepishly.

"Well… I think it's fitting to make a toast to Harry's recovery," Arthur held up his bottle of Butterbeer and said, "To Harry!"

* * *

The rest of the family returned to the blanket to celebrate Harry's recovery.

Molly had Apparated back to the Burrow and returned half an hour later with a large cake that read, "Congratulations to Harry!"

After everyone had eaten and was lounging on the grass lazily, Molly turned back to her husband.

In a low voice she asked, "Shouldn't they have arrived by now?"

"It's alright. I expect they might have been held up, not having been in England for the past few years," Arthur replied.

"But, Arthur, it would have been wonderful for Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione to see her after _so _long. It's been, what, six years now?"

"Mum, who are you talking about?" Ron asked.

Molly blanched. Everyone had been listening in.

"I expect she's talking about us," came an airy voice from behind them.

They all turned around.

"_Luna?_"

* * *

Teddy grabbed Victoire's hand. "Come on, Vic, I wanted to tell you!"

"But you didn't," she said stonily, sitting on a stump.

The two of them had snuck away from the rest of the family and entered the edge of the wood on the other side of the hill.

"Ginny made me keep it a secret! But it was worth it, you saw how happy everyone was!" Teddy tried to reason with her.

Vic crossed her arms. "It's not just that! Our whole relationship is a secret, no one except Uncle George even knows about us!" She recalled the moment when Uncle George had found her and Teddy in a closet snogging.

Teddy blinked. "I thought keeping it secret was for the best."

"Maybe it was before, but now… you're 19, I'm 17. We're legal adults and we should be able to tell our family about us. I don't think it's right to keep it hidden anymore! We've been denying it for so long I'm starting to believe we don't- we don't actually have a relationship."

Teddy sighed. Maybe he'd been wrong in keeping it a secret for so long. "Alright… I agree with you. We can tell them."

Vic looked up. "We can?"

"Yes. We can. You're leaving for Hogwarts in a month. I want to make sure that this… _us_… is perfect before you go."

Vic flung her arms around him. She let go of him and smiled. "Maybe we can tell the kids later… Wouldn't it be funny to see what they'd do if they found us snogging in the middle of Hogwarts? I think James would never be able to wipe that image from his mind ever again."

Teddy grinned. "Sure, why not. Except… how would we be snogging in Hogwarts?"

Vic whispered seductively, "You sneak in, obviously."

* * *

"So, Luna, where have you been all these years? You just sort of disappeared!" Hermione asked.

Luna and Rolf, her husband, sat together, hand in hand.

"Well, Rolf and I got married, and we decided to move to the Sahara because we got a call alerting us to the appearance of some Squibblenibs in that area. You know them, they like dry, sunny places.

"Then I had Lysander and Lorcan, and I decided that the desert was probably not the best place to raise two children, so Rolf and I moved to Albania. I had gotten a job offer there, and we had heard a couple months earlier about there being sightings of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, so Rolf, the boys, and I moved to Albania to try and set up some sort of protection for them."

"All the while, we've been publishing the Quibbler," Rolf put in. "Sales are growing every quarter."

"Wow, you've really had a busy few years, Luna." Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sat in awe as they listened to their friend talk about her adventures.

"Yes, we have. Although it was quite lonely up there without you all," Luna said dreamily, "So we have decided to move back to England so Lorcan and Lysander can go to Hogwarts in a few years time."

The rest of the adults began recounting the last few years with great nostalgia. Some of it had been difficult, of course, but they'd come so far since the end of the War.

Lorcan and Lysander fit right in with the rest of the Weasley kids. They were about the same age as Lily and Hugo, so the four of them went off to on their own. The other kids filed away after them.

Meanwhile, Molly and Arthur were back to whispering.

"When is she coming? She said she would be here an hour ago!" Molly was extremely flustered. She absolutely hated when anyone was late, because it threw off her meticulous planning.

"Molly, dear, calm down. She's an extremely busy woman, and I think it's remarkable that she has any time to come at all. Just sit down and enjoy yourself, and she'll be here before you know it." Arthur tried to reassure Molly, but it didn't work. She just flitted around, muttering to herself about tardiness and family.

CRACK!

Everyone turned in the direction of the sound. A tall woman appeared, wearing black robes and a tall pointed hat.

"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione cried. Minerva smiled.

"How are you, Mrs. Weasley?" she asked.

"Fine!" Five women answered back. When they realized they had all spoken at the same time, they blushed as the Weasley men looked at each other, nodding with pride.

Minerva chuckled. "How are you, Hermione?" she asked, and Hermione blushed, not used to Minerva addressing her by her first name.

"I'm doing well, Professor. And how are you?" Hermione asked politely.

"Oh, I'm well, Hermione. But everyone here is an adult now. I think you all can call me Minerva. No need to call me Professor anymore."

Everyone smiled, and Minerva McGonagall sat down to talk with the Weasley-Potter family.

* * *

"Teddy, now's the perfect time! All the kids have gone down to the lake, and we can tell the parents now!" Victoire urged Teddy, nudging him in the back.

Teddy stood up. "Hi, everyone. We have something we want to tell you..." Teddy trailed off uncertainly.

"Sure, Ted, go ahead. What's up?" Harry asked, smiling. Using his Godfather senses and radar (Harry made them up) he had a hunch about what Teddy was going to say.

"Um, Victoire and I... we're... that is to say, Vic and I- we're kind of... maybe a little bit... well, we're sort of-"

"DATING! We're dating! Merlin's beard, Teddy, how long does it take to say one short word?" Victoire had cut Teddy off, unable to deal with his stuttering.

Everyone immediately froze in whatever action they were doing, which was quite ridiculous, because Ron was holding a pie sideways and Percy still had a spoon in his mouth.

Minerva and George, however, exchanged knowing glances. _Finally. I've kept this a secret long enough. _

"You're WHAT?" Bill asked furiously, getting up from the blanket. Fleur tried to pull him back down, but he wouldn't budge. "You're DATING? WHAT? Why didn't you tell us before? How long has this been going on? I'm going to need to have a talk with Teddy. And you too, Victoire! Don't think that just because you're my daughter, I'll let you off the hook! I know that in all those Muggle moonies-"

"Movies," interjected Hermione. "I'm more impressed that you've managed to keep it a secret for so long… Has anyone in the fam-"

Bill cut off Hermione sharply. "Right, movies, that they only blame the boy, but I believe in gender equality and I think that you should be punished just as much as Teddy!" Bill finished his tirade, panting.

"Bill, why should they even be punished? It's not like they've done anything wrong. They're just going out together," Harry pointed out.

"Oh, but they will. They will," Bill said, eyeing Teddy and Vic like one would watch their worst enemy.

"But all they've done is like each other. I don't think it's that big of a problem," said Hermione. "Congratulations, Teddy and Victoire, I'm happy for you." She got up and hugged them, and Bill's eyes almost popped out of his head.

Hermione turned and glared at Ron, who stood up so quickly that he almost dropped pie all over his clothes.

"I'm happy for you both too. Congratulations," Ron said, hugging the young couple as well. Next to congratulate were Harry and Ginny, and then George and Angelina, (George was looking very relieved that the secret was finally out) and so one went the entire family until only Bill was left.

"Bill? Don't you want to say somesing to Teddy and Victoire?" Fleur asked him.

"No." Bill pouted petulantly.

"Bill," said Fleur.

"No."

"Bill."

"No."

"Bill! You go congratulate zem right now! Do you know how much courage it vould take to come and tell us somesing like zat? You are acting reediculous! Now go!" Fleur yelled at Bill, who finally, grumbling under his breath, went up to Teddy and Victoire.

Grudgingly, he said, "I'm glad you two are together. You make a nice couple."

* * *

So, in the end, no major mishaps had occurred at the picnic, which was probably a first for the Weasley-Potter family.

But quite a few good things had happened at the picnic too, including: catching up with old friends, the emergence of a new Weasley OTP, and Harry finally being able to walk freely without his cane.

So that night, before Molly went to bed, she smiled. Her family was happy, and that was what she always wanted.

* * *

**This story is almost at 150 reviews! We never expected for this fic to be this big, so we want to give a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited this story.  
**

**Also, we can't believe this is oneshot number 40! We're about to hit the final ten, and quite a few big events happen in these final ten. We hope you enjoy them!**

**Next Week: During someone's special first year, they begin to notice a special someone.  
**


	41. I'm Glad I Got Arrested With You

**Hope you guys enjoy this one-shot!  
**

**Also, see if you can spot something: it's someone Hermione had a brief fling with (although she only took him to a dance to make Ron jealous), he shows up in this one-shot in a surprising place. **

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

_This oneshot takes place December 2017 around Christmastime_

_Teddy- 19 and a half- Graduated Hufflepuff_

_Victoire- 17 and a half- Gryffindor (7th year)_

_Dominique- 15 and a half- Gryffindor (5th year)_

_Molly II- 14- Ravenclaw (4th year)_

_Louis- 13, almost 14- Hufflepuff (3rd year)_

_James- 12 and a half- Gryffindor (2nd year)_

_Fred- 12 and a half-Gryffindor (2nd year)_

_Rose- Almost 12-Ravenclaw (1st year)_

_Albus- 11 and a half- Gryffindor (1st year)_

* * *

**I'm Glad I Got Arrested With You**

It was Christmas at Hogwarts. Snow was falling, jingle bells were jingling, and hazelnuts were roasting by an open fire.

At least, that's what _should_ have been happening.

In reality, Hogwarts was a mess. The Weasley-Potter kids were all staying at Hogwarts for Christmas break, because their parents had decided that they needed a kids-free vacation. Molly and Arthur had taken the children that were too young for Hogwarts, the parents went on their relaxing trip, and the rest of the kids remained at the castle.

There was leftover gelatin everywhere, and the remnants of popped balloons filled the hallways. Toads were still chasing the unicorns, and all the professors who had stayed back had just given up. They were _tired_.

James and Fred, hidden behind a suit of armor, laughed and high-fived each other.

* * *

**Eight Hours Earlier**

Victoire, Dominique, James, Fred, and Albus were all in the Gryffindor common room. Victoire was checking her makeup, Dominique and Albus were reading, and James and Fred were talking to each other in hushed whispers, their eyes darting around suspiciously.

Molly and Rose were both in the Ravenclaw common room. Rose was reading up on the material for next semester and Molly was writing a letter to her parents. Molly was a sort of mentor for Rose, assisting her with homework, giving her tips on the difficult teachers of the school, etc.

They both enjoyed being part of Ravenclaw, and while they missed their cousins, they would meet at dinner almost every day.

Louis was down in the kitchens, eating a slice of cake. He had become good friends with the house elves during the three years that he had been at Hogwarts, and he went down to the kitchens quite often to eat and talk with the house elves. Sometime he even took his homework down there.

His friend, the house elf Hermy, was the daughter of Winky and Karl. Winky had chosen to name her daughter after Hermione Granger, who was still fighting for House-Elf-Rights to this day and was always very kind to her.

Louis, finishing up his cake, said goodbye to all the house elves and left the kitchens. He started to walk back to his common room.

And that's when everything went black.

* * *

"Nice! We blew out all the lights!" said James, clapping Fred on the back in excitement.

"I know! I didn't think we'd be able to hit the entire castle, but we did! The professors won't even be able to see us set up this prank."  
James and Fred had been planning this one since September. It had to be _perfect_, because they were finally going to get old Minnie. They had never, ever been able to catch her off guard before, but they both had good feelings about this prank. This was the one.

* * *

Victoire smiled. _Perfect_, she thought. Now she had a cover. She had been planning to sneak out to meet Teddy in Hogsmeade, and the only thing that she had been unsure about was how she was going to get in and out undetected. But here was the answer, given to her: a blackout.

She grabbed her cloak, waved to the rest of her cousins (James had found out about her and Teddy and had not hesitated to tell every living soul he'd ever encountered), jumped out of the Fat Lady's portrait hole, and left the castle.

* * *

"FRED AND JAMES! I KNOW YOU DID THIS!" Minerva shouted. She wasn't mad, because she figured something like this would happen, and most of the students had left the castle anyway, but still, she was headmistress of Hogwarts and couldn't condone this type of behavior. She took out her wand and performed the _Sonorous_ charm on herself. When she spoke, her voice was heard all throughout the school.

"DO NOT PANIC. WE WILL GET THE LIGHTS UP EVENTUALLY. HOWEVER, SINCE THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF STUDENTS STAYING WITH US, IT IS NOT A TOP PRIORITY. FOR NOW, PLEASE USE THE _LUMOS_ CHARM FOR LIGHT."

And with that, Minerva McGonagall went to her room, got into her bed, and took a nap. She sensed it would be a long day.

* * *

"Hey, Albus," said a voice behind him.

Albus turned. When he saw who it was, his palms started sweating. "Oh, hi, Alice. I didn't know you were staying back."

"Yeah, my parents decided that they wanted to take a vacation without me. In fact, I think they went with your parents." Alice smiled, amused.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Albus' stomach was feeling a little funny, too, and it didn't help matters that the light from Alice's wand fell on her face in such a way that it made it impossible to look away. "So, why did you come over here?"

"Did you not want me to come talk to you?" Alice countered, her eyes looking a little hurt.

Albus rushed to correct his mistake. "Oh, no! It's not that I don't want you to sit here, I don't- I mean I do, I just was wondering what you were doing here. I mean, of course you go to school here, that's what you're doing here, but I was wondering what you were doing _here_ here, at my... table..." Albus cut himself off when he noticed Alice laughing.

She had a really nice laugh, and he liked the way her nose got all scrunched up when she laughed. And when she threw her head back, he felt a sense of pride that _he_ had been the one to make her laugh that much.

"Albus? Albus!" Alice called.

"Huh? What? I'm here!" Albus said, coming out of his reverie. Alice laughed again. Albus smiled.

"I was asking you if you wanted to come with me to Hogsmeade. I have some candy and last minute Christmas presents I wanted to buy, and I didn't want to go alone, so I was wondering if you would join me?"

"Oh, sure. Let me just get my coat."

"You're wearing it," Alice reminded him, her eyes laughing.

"Oh, right." Albus blushed. "Well, let's go, then."

* * *

"Why, hello there, Victoire," Teddy said, smiling. "What a surprise it is to see you here."

"Oh, shut up, you dork." Victoire rolled her eyes, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Come here." Teddy swept Victoire into his arms and leaned down. "So, how did you manage to get out of Hogwarts unseen?" he asked, his nose brushing hers.

Victoire batted her eyelashes. "It's a secret."

"Well, then, I guess I'll just have to coax it out of you, won't I?" Teddy murmured, leaning down and capturing her lips with his.

* * *

"Come on! We don't want to get caught!" Alice pushed Albus down the tunnel. Albus was worriedly looking over his shoulder, sure that there was a professor following them, ready to take them back to the castle and give them detention, but every time he looked back, Alice would push him forward. "We can't stop until we reach the end of the tunnel!"

So they ran to the end, and suddenly they were in the cellar of Honeydukes.

"Perfect! Exactly where I wanted to come!" said Alice, climbing up into the store.

"Wait! Shouldn't we be more..."

"Hi Linda!" Alice shouted.

"Alice, sweetheart! How are you?" The lady at the counter, whose name was apparently Linda, said, giving Alice a hug.

"...quiet. You've done this before, haven't you?" Albus asked, watching Alice and Linda hug.

"Yeah, I come here a lot. Linda gives me stuff at a discounted price," Alice explained, smiling.

"You sneak out of Hogwarts _regularly_?" Albus asked incredulously, his eyes wide.

Alice laughed. "Yeah. It's not that hard, actually." She turned to Linda. "The usual, please, Linda."

Linda smiled and ruffled Alice's hair. "Sure thing, sweetie. Go ahead and take a seat. I'll pack up your candy for you."

Alice gestured to Albus to sit down at one of the stools at the counter. "I'll be giving the fudge to my dad- he loves it. Then I can go to Wiseacres for some socks for my mum- she likes the ones that have the dancing candy canes."

After Linda returned to Alice with the fudge wrapped in white paper and some other assorted candies for Alice, the two waved to Linda and exited Honeydukes, stepping out onto the cold Hogsmeade street. The sun was completely set now and many shop owners were beginning to close down.

"Quick, over to Wiseacres, before they close." Alice and Albus ran across the street and into the warm store.

* * *

James and Fred poked their heads out from behind a suit of armor. Cormac McLaggen, the caretaker of the castle, was muttering to himself as he mopped the floor. The two grinned evilly as McLaggen exited the corridor.

James ducked out from behind the suit of armor first and lit his wand. "Stage two is a go, Fred."

Fred ran over to the broom closet and opened it. Out tumbled a bag of un-inflated balloons.

"This is gonna be great," Fred said, grinning evilly.

* * *

Alice and Albus ran into Wiseacres.

"We're closing in five minutes, so please shop quickly," said the lady at the counter.

"Okay, we will. Thank you," replied Alice. She went over to the socks section and picked up a pair with dancing candy canes. Walking over to the counter, she said, "I'll take these, please."

"That'll be twenty sickles, dear," said the lady at the counter.

"Twenty sickles? That's absurd!" whispered Albus. "Why are they so expensive?"

"They're hand-made and they have the seasonal pattern, that's why," whispered Alice in return.

"Oh... that makes sense." Albus blushed, embarrassed.

"That's alright, dear," said the saleslady, who had apparently heard the hushed conversation. She smiled at Albus, winking knowingly. "He just wants to protect you from the evils of this world. It's nice to have someone that cares about you."

This time, both Albus and Alice blushed.

"We're not-"

"He's not-"

"It's not-"

"Oh, hush, you two. You may not have figured it out, yet, but you will soon. Here are your socks. Have fun! Toodles!" And with that, the saleslady all but kicked them out of the store.

Alice turned to Albus, her cheeks still red. "We'd better get back to Hogwarts. They'll notice we're gone soon, if they haven't already."

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

Victoire and Teddy were still locking lips when-

"Hey! You two! What are you doing out here? Hogsmeade is now closed!"

A flash of light illuminated the couple and they broke apart, confused.

"Erm… I work here?" Teddy fibbed uncertainly.

"Wait a minute... you both look a little young... she's from Hogwarts! Today's not a Hogsmeade day! What are you doing out here?"

Teddy and Vic stammered, trying to come up with an excuse while also inching away from the man. But they were moving too fast. He noticed.

"Arrest them for trespassing!" the man shouted.

Teddy and Vic jumped up and sprinted away.

* * *

"Wait. Alice… do you hear that?" Albus stopped short. "Sounds like voices."

"No…." Alice turned around as well.

A faint sound was being carried over to them by the wind, but they couldn't make it out.

"TEDDY! THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO KISS ME, WE HAVE TO RUN AWAY FROM THE POLICE!" Vic screamed.

She and Teddy zoomed past Albus and Alice, who turned around to see the police in question also running up the street.

"Oh, poop." Albus and Alice turned on their heels and sprinted after Teddy and Vic.

"Wait up!" Albus cried. He and Alice sped up and managed to reach Teddy and Vic.

"Wait, Albus? Why are you here?" Teddy asked, slowing down.

Vic grabbed his shoulder. "Quick, in here!" They had reached the end of the street and to their left was a dilapidated, abandoned house.

Vic kicked the door open and shoved her boyfriend in. Albus and Alice followed her into the old house.

The police ran by. "Maybe they've jumped into the lake! Harold and John, follow them into it!"

"But it's cold!" one of the men protested.

"DO ITTTTTT!" The sound of three splashes reached their house. Apparently the supervisor had fallen in while yelling.

Teddy, Vic, Albus, and Alice looked at each other then burst out laughing.

"Wait! I HEAR HAPPINESS! AFTER THEMMMMM!"

"&amp;$#%!" Teddy said.

* * *

Hogwarts was a mess.

There was leftover gelatin everywhere, and the remnants of popped balloons filled the hallways. Toads were still chasing the unicorns, and all the professors who had stayed back had just given up. They were _tired_.

James and Fred, hidden behind a suit of armor, laughed and high-fived each other. They'd managed to blackout the school, fill the teachers' lounge with balloons, set loose the Hogwarts unicorns and toads (the Unicorns were deathly afraid of toads), and to top it all off they'd filled the halls with gelatin.

And to get old Minnie, they sealed off her office and let in a dozen cats. They heard her exasperated remarks from two floors above.

"No, _really, _those are my Transfiguration papers, not a cat scratch post!"

James and Fred giggled, then ran into the passageway to Honeydukes, wanting to be far away from the castle once the Professors finally came around. They opened the trapdoor and-

"James! What did you do?" Vic shouted. She and Teddy, followed by Al and Alice.

"We did a huge Christmas prank!" James and Fred shouted in unison. "We'll go down in history!"

"Yeah, you will, as the first six students ever to be arrested in Hogsmeade on Christmas Eve!"

The six of them turned, only to come face-to-face with three wands. Three drenched police officers stood in front of them, grinning evilly.

"Well, %$!#," said Teddy and Vic.

* * *

"I thought, for once, we could have a nice, relaxing vacation, but no, our kids have to go and get themselves arrested!" Ginny fumed, still wearing a T-shirt that read 'The Leaning Tower of Pizza!'

Harry, Bill and Fleur, Andromeda (Teddy's grandmother), George and Angelina, and Neville and Hannah all stood behind her, arms crossed and frowning (George snuck Fred a thumbs up while Angelina wasn't looking).

Each criminal went with their parents, who frog marched them out of the Hogsmeade police station silently.

James walked slowly towards Ginny and Harry. Ginny took James by the ear and dragged him to the car.

"We're going straight home for Christmas, James, and if I hear one peep from you I'll fill up _your _room with gelatin!"

Albus made to join his father when Alice caught his arm and pecked him on the cheek. "This was fun, all things considered. I'm glad I got arrested with you. See you after break?"

Albus blushed. "Yeah, see you after break."

* * *

**Please review!  
**

**For next week: An awkward question about the birds and the bees leads to a hilarious situation. **


	42. Big Steps

**Hi everyone, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.**

_This Oneshot takes place in the fall of 2018_

_Teddy: 20 and five months  
_

_Vic: 18 and 4 months  
_

_Hugo: 10 and 4 months  
_

* * *

** Big Steps**

"_Dad, where do babies come from?" Hugo asked _

"_WHAT THE FRIGGIN POOP HELL WHAT," Ron dropped the pie on his face and jumped out of Niagara Falls._

"_The eagles deliver them, sweetie," Hermione said. _

"AHHHHHHHH!" Ron woke up with a start. He took a deep breath. He was just dreaming.

Hermione's arm reached up and swatted him. "What happened?"

"I- I had a nightmare- that- Hugo was asking about where babies came from and…. AHHHHHHHH!" Ron saw Hugo sitting on a chair reading a book titled _Where do Babies Come From? An Exact Step by Step Guide, by Gilderoy Lockhart (Yes, folks, he's back!)_.

* * *

"Ron! Wake up! WAKE UP!" Hermione slapped him across the face and Ron woke up from his dream within a dream.

"Wha- what happened?" he groaned.

"You were flailing about, crying out, something about babies and sex?" she asked, confused.

"I had a nightmare… that Hugo asked about the Birds and the Bees!" Ron said.

"Oh, Ron, don't worry, we don't need to tell him yet. He's not even going to Hogwarts until next year. Rose is a second-year, but we told her at the end of her first-year. We won't have to worry about Hugo for a while…" Hermione trailed off thoughtfully.

"I'm just worried something will ruin his innocence," Ron sounded worried.

"Don't worry. He's in primary school. What's the worst he could hear?"

* * *

Hugo walked down the hall to his maths class, humming a song he had heard on the radio. He was about to turn the corner when he overheard something interesting.

"Yeah, that's what happens. Something goes in a hole, and then the baby comes out."

Hugo's eyes widened. _I came from a hole? _He needed to find out whether this was true.

* * *

Ron was a mess that whole day. He didn't know why the idea of Hugo growing up bothered him so much. Maybe it was because Hugo was the baby? And if Hugo grew up Ron would become old? Ron wasn't sure, but still, he was on edge the whole afternoon.

Ron returned home early from managing the joke shop and found Hermione was not yet home.

He put a kettle of tea on the stove and sat down on the couch, turning on the television. Taking a few breaths, he began to relax. _Hugo wouldn't ask anything like that yet. He's still young. _

Ron soon lost himself in the wonders of Muggle reality TV.

The clock chimed three, and a few minutes later Hugo opened the front door of their house. The school bus chugged away behind him.

"Hi, dad!" Hugo said brightly.

"Hi, Hugo. How was school? Learn anything interesting?" Ron asked.

"Well… actually… I was wondering… where-" Hugo turned red, "Where do babies come from?"

Ron screamed.

* * *

Ron had sent Hugo to his room, with the promise that he would explain everything in an hour, and was now pacing the sitting room, hyperventilating. _What do I do what do I do what do I do?_

_I know! I'll ask Harry! _Harry had two boys plus Teddy, he was bound to have experience on his matter.

Ron threw some Floo powder into the fireplace and said, "Harry Potter's house."

He stuck his head in the fireplace and watched as Harry's living room appeared. "HARRY! I NEED HELP!" he yelled, and a second later frantic footsteps could be heard.

"What's going on, Ron? Why are you yelling?" Harry asked, worried. It was lucky he was at home. After he finally got rid of his cane last year he was re-promoted to Head of the Auror Department and could finally start doing field work and missions again, which had been his dream for so long.

"HUGO JUST ASKED ME HOW BABIES ARE MADE! I'M NOT READY FOR THIS!"

"Ron, calm down. It's not a big deal. It's pretty easy, actually."

"OH YEAH? HOW DID YOU TELL TEDDY AND AL AND JAMES?"

Harry blushed. "Well, actually..."

"Harry..." Ron gave Harry a pointed look.

"I didn't actually give them the talk," Harry said, cringing. "Andromeda told Teddy."

"Well, did Ginny tell James and Al? Let me talk to her, then," Ron said, looking for Ginny. "Ginny? Ginny! GINNY!"

"Be quiet, Ron. Ginny's not home. She's out with Lily. And besides, Ginny didn't tell them, either."

"WHAT? SO YOU TWO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE TALK AT ALL? AND YOU SAID 'CALM DOWN, IT'S EASY'! YOU LIAR! YOU TRAITOR, YOU-"

"Teddy told them!" Harry exclaimed. He had finally had enough of Ron's melodrama.

"What do you mean, Teddy told them? " Ron asked, his eyes narrowed. "And how did you find out that Teddy told them?"

"Well..." Harry trailed off. "It's a funny story, actually."

"Yeah, it better be," Ron said, scowling.

* * *

"_Hey, James, time for- woah, what are you all doing?" Harry asked, confused. James, Al, and Teddy were sitting in a circle on the floor of James' bedroom, whispering, their heads touching. _

"_Uh, study group?" James squeaked. It wasn't often that he was scared of his father, but when he was, it was for a good reason. Harry could be pretty scary when he wanted._

"_Okay... let me tell you why I don't believe that. One, it's Easter break, and no one studies during breaks except your Aunt Hermione, cousin Rose, and Uncle Percy's kids. Two, I have never seen you willingly study, ever. So why don't you tell me what's actually going on?"_

_James gulped. He opened his mouth, when Teddy cut him off. "Well, you see, Uncle Harry, I was on my way downstairs when James and Al intercepted me, and asked me about... certain... things."_

"_What things?"_

"_Things about... the birds and the bees..."_

"_WHAT?"_

"_Yeah, and I was expl-"_

"_Harry? What's going on? I heard you yell. Is everything okay?" Ginny asked worriedly. She had heard the yelling and run up the stairs._

"_Yeah, everything's fine. Oh, except for one thing- Teddy is telling James and Al about the birds and the bees!" Harry said. _

"_What? YOU'RE CORRUPTING MY BABIES! HOW DARE YOU-"_

"_Ginny, apparently James and Al asked him about it. He didn't just spontaneously decide to tell them about sex."_

_Ginny blushed. "But still, why would you tell them that?" And then she rounded on James and Al, who up to this point had been trying to edge their way out of the room. "And why would you ask Teddy that? You could have asked your father! He's done it three times!"_

"_Wait- since when is this about me-" Harry stammered, blushing._

"_Shut up, Harry, I'm dealing with a crisis here."_

"And then she yelled some more, and then we all went and ate dinner," finished Harry.

Ron was trying to control his laughter and failing miserably. "You- BAHAHA- she told you to- HAHAHAHA- to shut up because she was- HAHAHAHAHA- dealing with a- HAHAHAHAHAHA- a crisis!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. But the point of the story was that Teddy told James and Al, not me."

Ron wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "Okay, so what do I do now, ask Teddy for advice?"

"No, Ron. I may not have given James and Al the talk, but one thing I have learned from being a father is that sometimes, you just have to take the dive. Now get out of my house and go back to yours. And explain this to Hugo. Be the mature Ron, not... whatever you are now."

* * *

"I think we're ready for this, Vic," Teddy said reassuringly. He and Vic were sitting on the sofa in his flat.

Vic took a deep breath. "Okay. But only if my parents and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny say yes."

"They will. Don't worry." Teddy hugged her.

The two of them Apparated to Bill and Fleur's and opened the door.

"Maman? Papa? Teddy and I have something to tell you," Vic said, squeezing Teddy's hand. He smiled back at her.

* * *

"Er- hi, Hugo, you had a question for me?" Ron asked nervously.

Hugo was lying on his bed reading an art book, thankfully not _Where do Babies Come From? An Exact Step by Step Guide, by Gilderoy Lockhart. _

"Uh, yeah… I was just wondering… the question I'd asked you earlier?' It seemed Hugo didn't want to repeat the question, probably because of Ron's reaction.

Ron took a deep breath. "Yeah, you wanted to know where babies came from, right?"

Hugo looked relieved that Ron seemed calm. "Er- yes."

Ron smiled. "Well-." Out of the corner of his eye he saw a baby picture of Hugo on the bookshelf and he knew he couldn't ruin Hugo's innocence.

"Well… When a man and a woman love each other very much, they call up the baby factory. The baby factory sends them a special potion that each person has to drink, and then the baby shows up in the mum's stomach, where it stays for nine months and eats or something- I was never sure about that part. Anyway, after nine months the baby comes out of a hole in the mum and ta-da! The baby is born!"

Hugo nodded. Everything Ron was saying seemed to fit with what he'd heard at school that day. "That's it?"

"Yes. Oh, and you have to be married for it to work. So. Don't try until after your marriage. Any questions?"

"Nope!"

"Perfect." Ron smiled to himself as he walked out the door.

* * *

"I think that went well," Teddy said. They had escaped Bill and Fleur's with their blessing and only minor injuries.

"They agreed in the end, and I think Maman is happy for us, even if Papa will take some time to come around." Vic sounded happy.

"Alright, Harry and Ginny's house, come on." The two of them Disapparated.

* * *

"RON! WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING OUR POOR CHILD, YOU IDIOT!"

Hermione was furious. She had just come home when Hugo ran up to her, saying, "Mummy! Guess what I learned today!"

Hermione's eyes lit up. She welcomed learning new things, after all. "What did you learn, Hugo?" She sat down on the couch and Hugo jumped up next to her.

"I learned about how babies are made!"

Hermione's eyes widened. "_What?_ Since when do they teach those things to 10-year-olds?"

"Daddy told me. I didn't learn it in school, Mommy." And Hugo proceeded to tell Hermione everything that Ron had told him, factories and potions included.

And that takes us back to, "RON! WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING OUR POOR CHILD, YOU IDIOT!"

Ron jumped. He was in the kitchen, fixing himself a celebratory sandwich, and now he cowered in a corner. He didn't know what he had done wrong, but he figured Hermione had somehow found out about the lie he had told Hugo. She knew everything. She was scary like that.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley! You go out there right now and fix the lie that you told Hugo! He's a poor, impressionable child, and we should teach him the right things! Not lies!"

"I- I... Fine," Ron sighed. "But can we do it together?"

Hermione took a breath and then smiled faintly. "Sure."

* * *

"Harry, Ginny, Vic and I need to talk to you about something that we've decided... Something important..." Teddy trailed off. Vic and Teddy looked at each other, and Vic nodded decisively.

"VIC'S PREGNANT?" Ginny screamed.

"You got her pregnant? Teddy! I thought we made it clear! _Wait until you're married!_" Harry said, rubbing a hand over his face.

"I'm not pregnant! I am completely, utterly baby-free." Vic said hurriedly, rushing to calm down Harry and Ginny.

Ginny sighed in relief. "Oh, well, don't scare me like that! Now, tell us what happened!"

"Alright." Teddy took a breath. "So..."

* * *

"And that is where babies come from," Hermione finished.

"Oh..." Hugo nodded. "Makes more sense than dad's explanation."

"Any questions, Hugo?" Hermione asked.

"MAKE SURE YOU DON'T MAKE CHILDREN UNTIL MARRIAGE!" Ron yelled.

"I know, dad, don't worry," Hugo muttered.

"Now are we ready for the family dinner at the Burrow?" Hermione intervened.

"Yeah!" Ron and Hugo said together. They both loved food.

* * *

"That was really good, mum," Ron said, leaning back from his empty plate.

"You say that every week," Molly said fondly.

The Weasley family was assembled around the table. The children, except the ones at Hogwarts, were all talking at one end, and the adults at the other.

Teddy and Vic stood up from the table and faced the family, both a little pale.

"Um, hi?" Teddy said, fumbling over his words.

"Hi, Teddy." Harry smiled reassuringly. He knew what was coming and he fully supported Teddy and Vic.

Fleur was also smiling, her eyes slightly watery, and Bill sat next to her, looking slightly disgruntled but supportive all the same.

"We- we... Uh...," it appeared as though Teddy was losing his nerve.

"We want to move in together!" Vic finished.

"YOU WHAT?" Molly dropped a stack of plates on the floor. They shattered with a huge crash.

"We- we're both graduated from Hogwarts, Teddy's training to be an Auror, he's almost passed, and I have my job at Gringotts," Vic continued. "We're financially independent, and we love each other and we want to be together."

Teddy kissed Victoire on the cheek.

"But, but why move in together? Get married first!" Molly protested.

"Mum, I'm so sorry, but that's terribly old-fashioned. I think Victoire and Teddy should do what they feel is right," Percy interrupted. Everyone gasped. It was so unlike Percy to abandon the old-fashioned ways, but here he was, doing it anyway.

"But-,"

"Vic, Teddy, are you happy?" Arthur interrupted his wife.

"More than we can say," Teddy grinned.

"Molly, we're not their parents. If Harry and Ginny and Bill and Fleur agreed-"

"Barely," Bill mumbled. Fleur smacked him.

"-then we should respect their decisions," Arthur finished.

"I- oh, alright," Molly sighed. "I guess, if you're happy... I'm happy."

* * *

**Wow, there's only 8 more one-shots left in this fic! Can't believe time has flown by so fast. **

**Please review!  
**

**Next week's oneshot is a Halloween special!**


	43. There Always Has To Be Opera Music

**Hey guys, Happy Halloween!**

**We put a Marvel reference in here, see if you can find it!**

_This oneshot takes place on Oct 31 2019_

_Teddy= 21.5- Graduated Hufflepuff_

_Victoire= 19 and 5 months- Graduated Gryffindor_

_Dominique= 17 and 4 months- Gryffindor (7th year)_

_Molly= 15 and 10 months- Ravenclaw (6th year)_

_Louis= 15 and 8 months- Hufflepuff (5th year)_

_James= 14 and 7 months- Gryffindor (4th year)_

_Fred= 14 and 5 months- Gryffindor (4th year)_

_Rose= 13 and 9 months- Ravenclaw (3rd year)_

_Albus= 13 and 3 months- Gryffindor (3rd year)_

_Roxanne= 11 and 8 months- Hufflepuff (1st year)_

_Lucy= 11 and 7 months- Ravenclaw (1st year)_

_Hugo= 11 and 5 months- Gryffindor (1st year)_

_Lily= 11 and 2 months- Gryffindor (1st year)_

Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines. Also we put in a Marvel joke so rights to them.

* * *

**There Always Has To Be Opera Music**

"This is your fault. How could you do that to me, Roxy?" Fred asked, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry! I- I didn't- it was an accident! It wasn't my fault!" Roxanne cried.

"What do you mean, it wasn't your fault? Who else's fault could it be?" Fred paced the room, his hands pulling at his hair.

"Maybe- maybe there isn't anyone to blame. Maybe it was just an accident!" Roxanne defended, tears coming to her eyes. It wasn't often that her brother yelled at her. In fact, they got along unusually well. She loved him and he loved her- at least, up until now.

"_No_. An accident is spilling water on a paper, or dropping a glass. An accident is _not_ throwing your brother's priceless, cherished watch out the window! It's broken, Roxanne! _Broken_. Just like our relationship. And it's all your fault." Fred shook his head in disappointment and walked out, leaving Roxanne in tears.

* * *

Fred walked outside, slamming the front door shut. He just couldn't believe that Roxanne would do something as evil as that. She _knew_ how much that watch meant to him. She _knew_ how much he loved it, how much he cared for it. It was the only thing he had of his late Uncle Fred, his namesake.

Fred kept that watch on his bedside table, front and center, so he would never lose sight of it. He even brought it with him to Hogwarts, year after year. It was the most precious thing he owned. His father had given it to him his first year, right before he boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Fred remembered his father's exact words. _This was your Uncle Fred's. He never stopped laughing, even during the war. Take good care of it. _Fred remembered that his father had teared up a little, but he tried to hide it. That watch wasn't special to just Fred. It was special to his father, too. And now Roxanne had gone and _ruined_ it.

Before Fred knew it, he was at the end of the path. Looking around, he knew he couldn't go back. He certainly couldn't look at Roxanne. She was the reason for all of this. So facing forward once again, he slipped into the forest.

* * *

"Stupid Roxanne…. all her fault…. she did it on purpose…" Fred grumbled to himself. The Forbidden Forest was forbidden (oh, really?) but Fred had been in here enough times to make peace with the centaurs and know where all the dangerous creatures lurked.

He wasn't in the mood to talk to the centaurs about astronomy and fate and whatnot, and he certainly didn't want to be eaten, so when he hit a fork he took a hard right and continued sulking, stomping on the hard ground as though it, too, had taken away something near and dear to him.

Fred continued along the path, grumbling to himself occasionally, burning with anger at Roxanne. This argument they'd had wasn't one of those petty sibling fights- no, this was something bigger.

Before he knew it, the sky had grown dark and he could no longer see the ground in front of him. It would probably do him no good to become some creature's dinner, so he lit his wand and turned around, ready to head back to the castle. He had blown off some steam, but he still wouldn't face Roxanne.

After a few minutes, he heard a faint rustling from his left. The moonlight cast eerie shadows of the trees and wildlife, the trunks looming tall and looking menacing.

Fred whipped his head to the right. _Was that a growl?_

"Freeeeeeeddd!" a voice whispered from behind him. He jumped and hit a tree face first, falling to the ground.

"Who- who's there?" Fred squeaked.

The response was another growl and a loud rustling, something like the sound of a body being dragged across the crunchy leaves of the forest floor…

Fred scrambled to put his back to the tree and held his wand at the ready, his hand shaking.

He squinted. He saw a faint figure in the distance… or was he just imagining it?

Suddenly, a blinding orange flash illuminated the forest, and Fred yelled in fright, covering his face with his arms.

The light died down and a strong wind picked up, carrying with it the scent of rotten, putrid pumpkin. Fred opened his eyes and saw a huge figure crashing towards him.

"FRED!" it shouted menacingly.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"HAHAHAHA! YOU- SHOULD HAVE- SEEN YOUR- FACE!" James doubled over, laughing so hard he could barely take in a breath.

"What do you want, James?" Fred asked crossly.

James clutched a stitch to his side. "Roxanne said you stomped off into the forest, so she sent me in here to cheer you up! She, Lucy, Hugo, and Lily are all really worried. Also, and I quote 'if he gets eaten by a werewolf McGonagall won't ever let us celebrate Halloween again.'"

"Ugh, _she_ sent you? Then I'm in no mood to talk." Fred got to his feet.

"Fine, but let's walk back together, shall we? It's probably dangerous in here, being Halloween night and all. Who knows, maybe there are ghosts in here!" James joked.

Fred almost smirked. "Come on."

* * *

"That was a decent prank, I'll admit, with all the effects and everything you did," Fred grudgingly said. "Especially the wind."

"Oh, did you like the flash of orange light? I invented the spell- _Lumos aurantiaco!"_ James said proudly.

"Nice." Fred began to cheer up. Maybe he couldn't forgive Roxanne, but that didn't mean he had to spend Halloween sulking.

"How did you manage to create that rotten pumpkin smell?" he asked, a little more curious now.

"What pumpkin? I didn't do anything like that," James sniffed his shirt. "Nope, no pumpkin!"

"Well… I smelled this stench of rotten pumpkin… it was really bizarre, I thought it was you!"

"No… no, it wasn't me." James stopped in his tracks. "Say, Fred, have you ever heard of the Hallow's Eve Witch?"

"What?"

"Yeah, it's this old tale, I remember reading it to Lily once. There was a song too… I think I remember." And with that, James burst into opera music.

"HALLOW'S EVE! HAS A WITCH! SHE COMES IN THE NIGHT, BRINGING PUMPKIN SMELLS! ONCE SHE FINDS YOU, YOU HAD BEST WRITE A WILL! SHE'LL EAT YOU BEFORE THE NIGHT IS UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!" James finished his opera solo.

Next to him, a couple of plants wilted and died from the terrible noise that he had just made.

"That's a horrible song!" Fred groaned, clutching his ears.

"Hey, didn't say it was good! But my voice was great, wasn't it?"

"Er-"

"Well, anyway, if you've been targeted by the Hallow's Eve Witch, you gotta do five things before midnight- first, stand naked in a barrel of slugs. Then, second, you have to _eat _the slugs. Third, you have to snog with someone twenty years older than you (I'm not making this up, it's all in the tale). Fourth, you need to sing opera music, and the fifth one I never understood, but you need to mend something that's broken."

"... I think I'd rather be eaten."

* * *

"Alright, I have the barrel of slugs," Dominique said. Molly helped her cousin roll the barrel up the hill. All of the Weasley cousins, minus Roxanne, were assembled, ready to help. They all had a sneaking suspicion that the Hallow's Eve Witch wasn't real, but they didn't have anything better to do.

"Alright, everyone. We have a quest, to help Fred become un-targeted- is that a word?- by the Hallow's Eve Witch, so he won't be eaten!" Louis tried to corral all of the Weasleys into paying attention.

"WEASLEYS, ASSEMBLE!" James bellowed. Everyone stared at him.

Molly started, "Assemble? I do not-"

"I do!" Hugo shouted. Everyone now looked at him. "I understood that reference."

"Alright, Fred, get in." Dominique placed the barrel on top of the hill and stood it up. Everyone looked away while Fred took off his clothes and clambered into it.

"I hate this," Fred groaned.

* * *

"Alright, number two, here we go!"

"EAT, EAT, EAT, EAT!" the cousins chanted.

Fred grabbed a slimy slug, and, holding his nose, dropped it into his mouth.

All of the Weasleys cheered.

"I hate this even more."

* * *

"Has everyone paired with a buddy for number three?" James asked.

Dom and Rose, Molly and Albus, and Louis and Lucy nodded. James took his spot between Hugo and Lily.

"Ready, Fred?" Dom sniggered.

"#%*&amp; you," Fred grumbled.

Professor Rosalinda came around the corner. "Fred? What are you doing out here?"

Fred grabbed her by the waist and kissed her on the lips.

All of the Weasley cousins, paired up, covered each others' eyes so they wouldn't have to see it.

Fred let go of Professor Rosalinda, who said, "My, Fred, I-"

Before she could finish, the Weasley family ran off. The clock had just struck 10. They were running out of time.

* * *

"Remind me again why I'm doing this?" Fred asked, dejected. It was terribly humiliating.

The Weasley family was sitting on the hill, taking a short break before moving on to the next task. The darkness was an eerie black around them, like a suffocating blanket.

"Because the Hallow's Eve Witch is going to eat you!" Lily cried.

"How do we know it's real?" Molly and Rose asked together. "Logically, there should be no such thing on the Hogwarts grounds."

James opened his mouth to reply when a gust of wind blew over them, bringing the scent of rotting pumpkin and a note.

Dominique picked up the parchment, her hand quivering slightly.

"It says… _one hour before dinner." _

* * *

"Number four, opera concert!" James said excitedly. Fred sighed.

"What do I sing?"

"How about that Muggle singer, Lucinda Turnpop?" Louis asked.

"OH, MERLIN, LUCINDA TURNPOP? I LOVE LUCINDA TURNPOP!" James and Lily both screamed at the same time.

James took the first verse. "YOOOUUUU, MY LOVEEEEE, WERE SOOO GOOOOOOOD!"

Lily continued, "UNTILL YOUUUUU LEFTTTTT, AND WENT AWAYYYYYYYYYY!"

Fred sighed. "SOOO, HERE IS MY LETTER TO YOOOUUUUU!"

The entire family chorused together. "I STILL LOVE YOUUUUUUUUU!"

* * *

"Alright, it's almost midnight, and we only have one more ritual to go through before Fred is saved, and that's mending something that's broken," James said. "But what?"

Everyone racked their brains, but no one could think of anything.

"Is it something that's physically or metaphorically broken?" Molly asked.

"I would assume physically, because the Witch wouldn't be able to tell if Fred fixed something emotionally. She'd need evidence," Rose reasoned.

"Thirty minutes left!" Louis said urgently, holding up his arm for everyone to read the dial of his watch.

"...That's it!" Fred cried. "I have to fix the watch that Roxanne broke!"

Fred sprinted up the path to the castle, his cousins following close behind.

They climbed flights of stairs faster than they had ever done before.

"Fifteen minutes!" Louis updated them.

"Bran Oats, Bran Oats, Bran Oats!" Dominique reached the portrait first and said the password, out of breath.

"I love bran!" The Fat Lady swung open.

Fred flew up to the dormitory faster than he had ever run before, pushing open the door and rushing for his trunk.

"Aha!" he pulled out the watch. The dias was beautifully carved, a dark, deep midnight blue, its face encrusted with sparkling gems.

Around the edges was carved "Mischief Managed with Family". But the carving was badly dented, and the part inscribed with "Family" was missing completely, thanks to Roxanne. As Fred studied the watch, something clicked.

"We need to find Roxanne! NOW!" Fred sprinted down the steps two at a time.

"I'll check the library!"

"Great Hall!"

"Bathrooms!"

"Five minutes!"

The Weasleys ran off in different directions, each intent on finding Roxanne before the clock chimed midnight.

The Fat Lady swung shut, and Fred made a beeline for the Hufflepuff Common Room, but then stopped and sank to the stone floor. He was emotionally drained. _If I can't make up with Roxanne, then I deserve to be eaten by a Witch._

"Why is everyone running around screaming?" Roxanne asked as she walked past Fred. She stopped when she saw him.

"Roxy!" Fred felt both anger and relief. But he knew he had to do this. For family.

"Roxanne. I- I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was angry. I was sad. But I was also broken, because this watch- it's a part of me. And I thought, if it broke, then I'm dishonoring myself and Uncle Fred.

"But now, I realize, you're a part of me too. And I don't want to lose you." The words spilled out of Fred's mouth, forming sentences that he knew he would never want anyone else to hear except Roxanne.

"I'm so sorry, Fred!" Roxanne hugged him.

He awkwardly patted her on the back. "It's alright, but we need to fix this watch in… forty seconds, or I'm going to be eaten by a Witch."

Roxanne pulled something out of her pocket. It was the missing piece of the watch, the one that read "family".

"I went out to search for it. I looked for hours until I finally found it."

Fred beamed. "Let's put it on, quick."

Roxanne grabbed the watch and placed the piece of metal from where it was before. Fred pulled out his wand, and, holding the watch, said "_Reparo!"_ just as a loud BANG! was heard.

A warm, golden light spread from their fingertips and shone in the air for a few moments.

"Did we make it in time?" Fred asked frantically.

"I- I think we did, Fred!" Roxanne hugged him once again.

"I can't believe it was that easy," Fred looked down at the watch.

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to be such a wuss about it," Roxanne punched his shoulder. There was her spunky side once again.

Fred grinned. He knew they were alright again.

* * *

Minerva snorted. "I can't believe it worked!"

Filius Flitwick smiled. "I told you, Minerva, the prankers must always be pranked to bring them down a few notches."

Minerva chortled. "After all these years of pranks from those two, we have finally had our revenge for that awful stunt they pulled two years ago." Minerva had been waiting for a good way to get James and Fred back for setting all those cats loose in her office.

The Professors had orchestrated the whole hoax of the Hallow's Eve Witch, then sat back and watched the highly entertaining result.

All of the Professors clutched stitches to their side as they recounted the Weasley family opera concert of the singing sensation Lucinda Turnpop.

* * *

**What did you think? Please review!  
Do you think we could get to 200 reviews before the story ends?  
**

**The next oneshot is huge- it's probably one of the most important oneshots in this fic, because it's the beginning of the "finale" of sorts for The Life We've Dreamed of. **

**Stay tuned!**


	44. Clouds on the Horizon

**Hey guys, this is finally the important chapter we've been hinting at for so long!**

**This is a very sad chapter, just a heads-up.**

**But we worked very hard on it and we hope you all like it.  
**

**And in case any of you haven't seen the authors notes from previous weeks, this is the updated release schedule: **

44\. _Saturday November 14th_

45\. _Saturday November 21st_

46\. _Saturday November 28th_

47\. _Saturday December 5th_

48\. _Saturday December 19th_

49\. _Saturday January 2nd_

50\. _Saturday January 16th_

**I'll put the warning down at the bottom after the end of the chapter, it'll have spoilers in it, so if you don't want to read it, just start reading the chapter, but if you feel you would need this warning, scroll down and check it out.**

Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.

* * *

**Clouds on the Horizon**

"Teddy? Lily and I baked cookies! We thought you and Vic might want some. "Where are you?" Ginny asked, pushing open the door to his and Victoire's flat.

The sitting room was decorated nicely, with the sofa matching the armchairs, which matched the wood of the table, which matched the wood of the floor, which matched the wood of the TV stand, which matched… Well, Vic was a good interior decorator, that was certain.

But the room was empty, which was odd, because Ginny was sure she recalled Teddy had taken off from the Auror Department today and Vic had taken a few days leave from the Bank.

Crossing over to the stairwell, she heard a thump coming from upstairs.

"Ted? Vic?" Ginny called. Another thump came in reply.

"I have cookies!" Usually this would cause Teddy to come bounding down the stairs, but there was no sign of him.

_Maybe they're out. I'll just leave them in the bedroom so they'll see them when they come in._

Ginny walked down the hallway to the bedroom. The hallway was illuminated and a vase of flowers sat on a table.

Ginny approached the door to the bedroom and pushed it open.

"OH, SWEET MERLIN!" Ginny covered her face with one arm and reflexively threw her plate of cookies at the scarring sight she had just witnessed.

Teddy and Vic were lying on the bed, looking at Ginny in shock, and it was quite obvious what they had been up to.

"OW!" Teddy yelled, clutching his head and falling to the ground. The plate had hit him in the head.

Ginny looked through the gaps in her fingers, and immediately regretted it. "TEDDY! VIC! COVER YOURSELVES!"

Ginny managed to back out of the room and vomit into the vase of flowers. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. Well, actually, she should have seen it coming, what with Teddy and Vic having moved in together and there only being one bedroom in the flat.

"Aunt Ginny?" Vic asked timidly, coming out of the bedroom and tying a robe around her.

Ginny turned to her, wiping her mouth. "Yes, Vic?"

"I'm sorry you had to see that. We really weren't expecting anyone, and we were both home, and we just... It's been such a long time since we were both together, at home, and we didn't have to rush off anywhere, and-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Vic. You're both adults now, and you can make your own decisions. but just make sure you're being safe about it, yeah?"

Vic smiled. "Of course, Aunt Ginny. Thank you." Ginny and Vic hugged. "Oh, and Aunt Ginny?"

"Yes, Vic?"

"Please don't tell my father about this? I'd rather he didn't know."

Ginny laughed. "Yeah, I won't. It's funny because we've all figured that this has been happening, but your dad adamantly refuses it." Vic and Ginny laughed as Teddy walked out of the room, naked.

"AHHHHH!" Ginny screamed. "AHHHHHH!" She ran down the stairs two at a time and went straight out the door, smashing into a lady on the sidewalk. They both fell in a pile into two trash bins, which clanged to the ground, spilling their contents out. Ginny attempted to get up, slipped on a banana peel, and fell on top of the woman again, who screamed. Ginny got back up, screamed again, then Apparated away.

* * *

Molly turned over in her bed, trying to get comfortable, but it hurt, for some reason. It was like there was a lump on her side. She had been feeling something for a couple weeks now, but she had just dismissed it. It occurred to her that she may have to go to the Healers, as it hadn't gone away.

"Molly?" Arthur asked. "Is your side still hurting?"

"Yes, it is. I think we need to go to St. Mungo's later today."

Arthur frowned in worry. "Yes, of course. We'll go after breakfast."

* * *

"Hello, I'd like to schedule an appointment for my wife," Arthur spoke to the woman at the reception desk.

"What's the problem?" The woman asked kindly.

"She's been feeling somewhat of a lump on her side, and she says it hurts when something touches it. We just wanted to make sure everything is alright."

"A lump on her side, you say?" The woman had a concerned expression on her face. "Please head up to the special Muggle Remedies ward. Third floor."

"Why Muggle remedies?" Arthur asked.

The receptionist smiled sympathetically. "You'll see once you get up there."

Arthur and Molly glanced at each other, then headed to the lifts and hit button three. The hospital was somewhat quiet, what with it still being quite early. Arthur had insisted on leaving as soon as breakfast was over.

"Do- do you think it's something bad, Arthur?" Molly asked worriedly.

He didn't know what to tell her. Being sent up to Muggle Remedies made it sound as though the Healers couldn't treat her with magic. "I'm not sure, Mollywobbles." And that was what frightened him most.

* * *

"So before we do any testing, how about you tell me why you came so I can have a better idea of what to look for?" the Healer said kindly, a gentle smile causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle.

Molly sighed. "I've been feeling pain in my side. It's not pain exactly, but when I lay on my side, it feels like there's something there- like a lump."

The Healer's eyes widened, concerned. "Have you noticed anything else? Tenderness in your breasts, maybe? Or some type of discharge from that area?"

Molly sat, thinking. "Now that you mention it, I have experienced both of those things."

"Oh, dear. Well, let's do the Muggle X-rays now. I hope it's not what I think..." the Healer muttered, turning away to find a lead apron.

Molly and Arthur exchanged nervous looks.

* * *

Molly and Arthur sat in the waiting room of the hospital, their hands clasped. The Healer and his nurses had taken many pictures of Molly with a lead apron on. They had called it an "X-ray."

The Healer came out of his office. "Molly? Arthur? I'm afraid I have some bad news. We saw some lumps under your breast tissue that may be… well, you'll see downstairs. We want to refer you to a radiologist. They take more detailed X-rays, called mammograms, so they'll be able to clearly see what's going on. I'll write down the name of the radiologist that I recommend."

The Healer turned around, about to walk out of the waiting room, when he stopped. Turning to look at Molly and Arthur, he said, "I wish you two good luck."

* * *

"Hello." The radiologist greeted Molly and Arthur as they pushed the door into the radiology department. The walls were a bright yellow and were lined with chairs. Magazines lay strewn across the tables that were spread across the room.

"Healer Typopturnney sent me your file from upstairs." The radiologist held up a manilla folder. "I'm Healer Telewospey," he continued, "and I'll be performing your mammogram today.

Molly looked at him with wide eyes.

"I take it you haven't had a mammogram before?" he asked.

"N- no…" Molly trailed off. _If something's wrong, why can't they just tell me?_ "I'm sorry, but I'd like to know what is happening before I undergo this 'mammalgram'", she said. "I'm already quite worried and I don't need more stress added on top of that."

"Well… I'm sorry to say, but it seems as though you could have breast cancer," Healer Telewospey said gravely.

"Cancer? Isn't that a Muggle thing?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, it is a Muggle thing, but it can affect wizards also," Telewospey said.

"Excuse me, but what _is_ cancer?" Molly broke in. Perhaps she would have been more shocked at the speculation of what was happening to her, but as she didn't know what it meant, she didn't feel very worried. Yet.

"In simplest terms, breast cancer consists of a tumor in the breast. A tumor is a number of malignant, or harmful, cells, that if not treated, will multiply exponentially and eventually spread from the breast to who knows where- and that is exactly what we want to avoid." Telewospey said. "Generally, it is not very common among wizards, but it isn't rare, and if we catch it early enough, we have the capacity to treat it in the Muggle way."

"Oh…" Molly said, not comprehending everything he was saying.

"There's no magic treatment for it?" Arthur asked, shocked.

"No… certain things cannot be treated by magic, I'm afraid," Telewospey said. "Now, if you have no further questions, we should proceed with the mammogram."

* * *

"Come in, everyone! Come in!"

The Weasley-Potter adults were having their weekly dinner at the Burrow. The adults felt lonely during the school year with all the children at Hogwarts, so they had come together and decided that they would have weekly dinners, just to keep in touch and get together.

Molly had had her mammogram four days ago, and the Healer had said that he would have the results within the next seven days. Now all Molly could do was wait. But she refused to get worried until she knew for sure that she had... what had they called it? Prancer? Fancer? Cancer? Anyway, she didn't have the results yet, so she decided to enjoy herself while she could.

Molly and Arthur's children and their spouses crowded the living room. The ladies peeled away from the group to put their dishes in the kitchen and then returned. As the years had gone by and the family had gotten bigger, the family had decided to turn the weekly Saturday night dinners into potlucks, so that Molly wouldn't have to do all the work (they still left the main dish and dessert to Molly, though, because they all wanted at least two things to be edible.)

Everyone was talking and laughter, and the exchange of stories filled the air. George and Ron were arguing about their new product for the joke shop; Angelina, Ginny, Hermione, Audrey, and Percy were talking about the new decree for elfish rights; Fleur and Molly were comparing notes on recipes; and Harry, Bill, and Arthur were discussing the new broomstick model.

All of a sudden, the fire flared up and Charlie stepped out of the fireplace, covered in soot.

"Thought I'd stop by to visit," he said, brushing the dust off his dragon-skin jacket.

"Charlie!"

"It's been so long!"

"How's Romania?"

Everyone got up to hug Charlie, and in the midst of all the commotion, Molly almost missed ringing of the Muggle phone they had kept. She left the living room to go to the kitchen, where it was quieter.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello. May I speak to Molly Weasley, please?"

"This is she."

"Mrs. Weasley, we have your results from the mammogram," said Healer Telewospey.

Molly tensed. "Yes?"

Healer Telewospey sighed. "I'm afraid you have breast cancer, Mrs. Weasley. I'm so sorry. It is a non-invasive cancer, so that's better than having the invasive kind. If you'd like to make an appointment with my office, we can sit down and discuss the cancer more in depth, along with some treatment options."

"Thank you, I will. Goodbye, Healer Telewospey."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Weasley."

Molly reentered the living room, unable to comprehend what she had just heard. _I have breast cancer?_ Everything felt numb. It just couldn't be true. Were her ears ringing? Why did the room seem so bright?

She was in shock. _What was happening?_

"As I was saying, Tooting Tortoises aren't going to sell very much," George argued.

"Come on, it's a great prank and it'll be hilarious to watch old McGonagall sit down and have the tortoise toot," Ron countered.

Over on the couch, the discussion of elvish rights was coming to a close.

"I'm finalizing the bill now," Hermione said. "Bill's been a great help- we've almost got a maximum work day cap for both elves and goblins. It should be nice for them to get time off instead of a 16 hour work day."

And on the second couch (they had a lot of people, okay?) the broom arguments were making a head.

"I don't think the SonicBoom would be a good broom for you, Harry, you're forty years old. Might break your neck in the process," Arthur said cautiously.

"Bill's, what, about 50 now? And he's bought two of 'em!" Harry said, chuckling.

Bill looked up, shocked. "I'm really that old?"

"Yeah," Harry laughed. The rest of the adults looked up at them.

"I'm 48," Charlie put in, returning from the loo where he had stopped to freshen up.

"48 and still single," Ron said, grinning.

"I'm…" George counted on his fingers. "42? Is that right, Angelina?"

She sighed. "Yes, George, we're both 42. No need to shout it out to the world."

"I'm a ripe 44," Percy said. "Audrey's 42."

"Oooh, Perce, gettin' the young ones, are ya?" George teased. Angelina whacked him, but smiled.

Molly unsteadily took her seat.

"What happened, Mollywobbles?" Arthur whispered.

"Later," she mouthed to him.

"That means we'd both be 40, like Harry," Ron gestured to himself and Hermione.

"And I'm 39," Ginny chimed in. "The only one who hasn't hit the fourth decade like all you old people."

Molly looked around at her family, listening to them argue about their ages. And then it hit her. _I won't make it very far past this age._ She teared up, and everyone turned to look at her.

"Molly? Is everything alright? What's wrong?" Arthur asked, determined to get the answer out of her. And then it hit him. "The Healer's office was supposed to call sometime this week, weren't they?"

Molly nodded.

"The Healer?" Ginny asked. "Why would you need to go to the Healer, mum?"

"Is everything okay?" asked Hermione.

Molly and Arthur looked at each other.

"Mum? Dad? What's going on?" said Bill, worried.

Molly took a deep breath. "For a couple of weeks or so, I've been feeling a lump of sorts when I lay on my side, so we went to St. Mungo's a few days ago."

"And you didn't tell us?" George said.

"We didn't want to worry you," Arthur said quickly.

"Anyway, they told me to go to the radoligis or something-"

"The radiologist?" Hermione interjected. She thought she knew what was going on, but she waited for Molly to finish.

"Yes, the radiologist. And they took a mammalgram-"

"A mammalgram?" Ron jumped in. "Isn't that, like, a platypus, or something?"

"You know, I heard platypi sweat milk," George said.

"Platypi? I thought it was platypuses," Ron said.

"SHUT UP AND LET THE WOMAN TALK!" Hermione and Angelina shouted together.

Arthur continued the story, however. "So we went to the radiologist department and they took a mammogram, and they said they would call with the results within seven days."

"And they called today," Hermione said quietly.

Molly took over. "Yes. And-" She choked up here. "And they said- they said that I- that I have breast cancer. It's a Muggle disease." Molly's voice broke and she turned away, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Cancer? What's that?" asked Ron, looking at Hermione. But Hermione had tears in her eyes and she couldn't speak. "Harry?" Ron said, turning to his best friend, but Harry looked like he might cry, too.

Now Ron was scared. He had never, ever seen his best friend cry. Not during Hogwarts, not when they were on the run their seventh year, not after losing Dumbledore, not even after losing so many of their close friends to the War. But now Harry's eyes were wet, and Ron was terrified.

"Mum? This is something really bad, isn't it?" Ron asked quietly.

Molly nodded.

Everyone looked around, scared. And then they looked at the two people in the family who knew the Muggle world- Harry and Hermione.

Hermione wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. "Cancer is pretty bad. Breast cancer is basically when a tumor forms in the breast of someone- and a tumor is a bunch of bad cells, which can reproduce and spread to other parts of the body… like the b-brain… and then the person can…" She cut off and buried her face in Harry's shoulder, who was the only one who could comfort her now. Harry put his arms around her. No one else knew what to say.

"They can die," Harry finished quietly.

Molly looked around at her family. She couldn't believe that- that she might leave them. Of course, she had known it was coming, but she just didn't think that it would come this quickly. Granted, she _was_ 71, but still. She knew people older than she was. This wasn't fair. Why did she have to die? What did she do to deserve this?

She could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks steadily now, but she didn't try to stop them.

Not one word was spoken by the family.

But then, Ginny rose from her seat and put her arms around her mother.

One by one, the Weasley-Potters took their place next to Molly.

They would get through this. Together.

They had to.

* * *

**The Warning:**

**SPOILERS**

_A character gets breast cancer. _

* * *

**This is a very important chapter in this fic. It begins what we've started to call "The Molly Saga". Also, keep an eye out for the next few chapter titles. We've developed a sort of theme for them and we want to know your opinions on them.**

**Please review with your opinions.**


	45. The Raging Storm

**Hey guys, here's part two of the Molly Saga. Hope you like it.  
**

**We just want to shoutout those who review just about every chapter. We appreciate you all a lot. And we want to thank anyone who's followed/favortied/reviewed and supported this fic. It's not over yet but we just wanted to express our thanks.**

_Takes place January 2021_

_Molly= 18 (less than a month)- Ravenclaw (7th year)_

_Rose= 15- Ravenclaw (5th year)_

_Roxanne= 12 and 11 months- Hufflepuff (3rd year)_

_Lucy= 12 and 9 months- Ravenclaw (3rd year)_

_Lily= 12 and 6 months- Gryffindor (3rd year)_

**Release Dates:**

45\. _Saturday November 21st_

46\. _Saturday November 28th_

47\. _Saturday December 5th_

48\. _Saturday December 19th_

49\. _Saturday January 2nd_

50\. _Saturday January 16th_

Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. I own nothing but the plotlines.

* * *

**The Raging Storm**

"Bye Molly! See you next week."

Molly walked out of the Cancer Treatment Center of St. Mungo's. She had gotten surgery to get the tumor removed a few weeks ago, and after that she had started chemotherapy to keep the cancer from returning. She had been doing chemotherapy for a few weeks now, and she was feeling a little better, though it was making her weak as well.

At her first meeting with Healer Telewospey, she had learned that she had a type of non-invasive breast cancer. This meant that the cancer had not yet spread to other parts of her body, although there was a risk that it could eventually. This was the main reason that she had gotten the tumor removed so quickly.

But there was always the risk that it would come back, or that the treatment wouldn't work, or... A multitude of bad things could happen, and Molly just didn't know what the future held. The situation was definitely scary and worrying, and it made her feel many draining emotions.

Molly sighed as she Flooed back to the Burrow. Pretty soon, she would be too weak to even floo anymore. When she got home, she stumbled a bit and yawned. She was feeling pretty tired.

Once she got upstairs, she changed out of her dress and pulled on an old, patched one. She would need to do some cleaning today.

In the past weeks, a lot of the pressure had fallen on Arthur to buy the groceries, clean the house, cook their meals (not very well, but he tried), and do many of the tasks that used to fall to Molly, while also going to work.

Arthur had been planning on retiring soon, given his age, but ever since Molly had gotten cancer, they'd needed the money, and one thing that they refused to do was borrow money from their children.

But today Molly knew she had to try to accomplish something instead of sleeping or moping around. Out of habit, she reached up to tie her hair, but then stopped. She still hadn't grown accustomed to the fact that she didn't have hair anymore. She had chosen to cut it close to her head, because the Healers had told her it would fall out anyway, and she'd rather do it like this than have random clumps fall out unexpectedly.

As Molly climbed down the stairs, somewhat slowly as she had developed a headache after her visit to St. Mungo's, a sudden wave of nausea overcame her and she ran to the loo, making it just in time.

This had been happening a lot, and the Healers had said it was normal. But she had also been told to make sure to have a healthy, balanced diet, which wasn't very easy to accomplish if she vomited it back up all the time.

Molly flushed the toilet and washed her mouth. Sighing, she made her way out of the loo to do what she had been planning on doing- clean the house. She went to the kitchen and took out her wand, performing cleaning spells. As she was waving her wand around, one of her nails broke. Taking a closer look at her hands, she realized that quite a few of her nails were cracking, and the rest looked extremely brittle. She sighed. This was one of the side effects of chemo. Then she did the living room, and then she went to back upstairs to do the bedrooms.

* * *

"Hey, Lils," Rose said as she entered the library and sat down at Lily's table. The candlelight of the lamp and the flickering fire cast a warm glow over the area.

"Hi, Rosie." Lily looked up from her book. "Shouldn't you be studying or something?" Rose was diligently preparing for her O.W.L's in June.

"I was just checking in on you," Rose said quietly. Of all the Weasley cousins, Molly's cancer had hit Lily the hardest. Of course, all of the cousins were sending letters to their grandmother every week, hoping to boost her spirits and get some news on her condition. All of them were worried about Molly. But it seemed that Lily had been most affected.

Maybe it was because she was the youngest, or maybe because she had always spent the most time with Molly (it had ended up that way, as Ginny was Molly's only daughter, so Lily ended up spending time with her mother and her grandmother at the same time). But Lily had not been quite the same since the news came.

She was more quiet. More reserved. And quite often she would burrow herself into a corner of the library, away from her cousins and her friends.

Lily's brothers, Lucy, Hugo, Roxy, Fred, and Louis had all tried to cheer her up in their own ways, but nothing had worked.

But Rose had an idea.

"So, Lils, I've been meaning to ask… about you and Lorcan Scamander?" Rose grinned as Lily immediately blushed.

"What about us?" Lily sounded as though she was choosing her words carefully.

"Well, you seem to be spending a lot of time together…" Rose trailed off teasingly.

Lily and Lorcan hadn't talked very much since the Weasley-Potter picnic with Luna, Rolf, Lorcan, and Lysander, but since the beginning of the school year, Lily and Luna's son had struck up quite a bond. Lorcan and Lily had only gotten closer since Molly had announced that she had cancer, as Lily seeked comfort in Lorcan's gentle, kind eyes and warm, strong hugs.

"Just because we spend a lot of time together doesn't mean we're romantically involved. Haven't you ever heard of a platonic relationship?" Lily asked sarcastically, but the red tint of her cheeks said something else entirely.

"Just admit it. You like him." Roxanne stepped out from behind the shadows, followed by Molly and Lucy.

"What is this, a party to interrogate me?" Lily asked furiously.

"Er- no, I didn't expect these three to be here. In fact, I didn't tell them of my suspicions at all. How did you know?" Rose asked, turning to the new arrivals.

"Rose, you're hopeless at romance. If _you _saw the signs, of course we did too." Roxanne laughed.

"Right, anyway, Lorcan is on his way right now," Molly put in. "We told him Lily wanted a chat."

"You did WHAT?" Lily jumped out of her seat.

"SHHH!" Madam Pince threw a quill at the Weasley girls.

"Well, you had better tell Lorcan that I don't have anything to say to him and that you lied, because I'm leaving!" Lily started to storm away from her cousins when Lorcan appeared. She bumped into him and dropped her book.

"What-" Lily stopped when she saw who she had hit. There was a charged moment when the two looked into the other's eyes, but then Lily grabbed her book and all but sprinted out of the library.

Lorcan looked at Roxanne, Molly, Lucy, and Rose. "So, uh, why'd you call me here?"

"No reason," Lucy said innocently.

Lorcan nodded, his blond hair falling into his eyes, which he brushed away. "I'll see you around, then." He turned and left.

The four Weasley girls huddled together.

"Alright, girls, let's begin Operation: Marry Lorcan into the Family."

* * *

"Molly, you've been doing great with your chemotherapy," Healer Telewospey said, rubbing his hands together. "You're all set to go home. I'll be seeing you next Saturday, I presume?"

Molly rubbed her eyes. She was so tired, she had lost track of the conversation.

"Yes, next Saturday," Arthur covered for her. He wore a Muggle baseball cap to cover his bald scalp. The last bit of hair he had left had fallen off once the stress of having a cancer patient as a wife kicked in.

Molly yawned. "Can I ask, how much longer I'll be needing to do this?"

"I'd say another month or two. Next week, we can do another mammalgram," (this was their old joke now), "and check for more cancer locations."

"Alright, thank you, Healer Telewospey," Arthur said, taking Molly by the arm and leading her down the hallway. Lately, directly after her chemo sessions, she'd been feeling a bit weak. It usually subsided within an hour or so.

Arthur led her out of the Muggle exit of St. Mungo's, where Molly removed her arm from his grip. "I don't need help walking, Arthur," she said haughtily, stalking down the street.

Arthur sighed. He was doing his best to be patient with her, as he knew how hard this was for his wife. There was bound to be some irritability from her after everything she was going through.

A cold wind blew harshly across the avenue, chilling Arthur to the bone. A snow was falling, growing steadier by the minute. He could sense a storm was nearly upon them.

Arthur followed Molly down the street, catching up to her as they entered the Muggle Underground station. They couldn't floo anymore- Telewospey had said it was unsafe for Molly to travel this way at the current stage of treatment.

As they took the slow elevator down, Arthur's mind drifted to the mammogram they were going to have performed next Saturday.

He hoped the treatment was working.

But he just wasn't sure.

* * *

"We're almost ready," Lucy whispered to Roxanne "Just waiting for Rose and Molly to get into position."

Lucy and Roxanne were hiding behind an ugly potted plant that was just outside the Great Hall. Dinner was almost over, but Lorcan was sitting with his twin, Lysander, at the Ravenclaw table, and Lily was with her group of friends at the Gryffindor table.

"Oh, Lily?" Rose called. She was supposed to lure Lily out. "Can you meet me in the common room?"

"Why?" Lily asked curiously, looking up from her dinner.

"We just got another letter from Grandma Molly. Want to read it?" Rose asked.

"Yes!" Lily said goodbye to her friends and got up to exit the Hall.

At the Ravenclaw table, Molly had also managed to get Lorcan to leave the table.

"Go!" Roxanne ducked out from behind the ant and deposited a white bundle on the floor.

Lily and Lorcan both exited the Hall one after the other. Apparently they hadn't noticed each other yet.

Lily stopped in her tracks. "Oh no!"

Lorcan, noticing her for the first time, halted as well. "What's up?"

"Look." Lily pointed at the bundle.

It was a stuffed owl Roxanne had bought. It had cost quite a few galleons, but the result was a very real looking owl. Roxanne had made a red potion that resembled blood, and then drizzled it over the owl. And then she had jammed a stick into the owl's stomach, creating the facade of a deathly injured creature.

"We need to get her to Hagrid's." Lily scooped up the owl in her arms gently.

"No, Lily-" Lorcan said gravely. "She- she's not breathing."

"What? No! She's fine, she's just-," Lily looked at the owl in her arms more closely. "She's just a STUFFED OWL! ROXANNE! MOLLY! ROSE! LUCY!"

The four of them jumped.

"There goes our plan," Lucy muttered.

* * *

"Are you ready for the results of your mammogram?" Healer Telewospey asked Arthur and Molly. It was the Wednesday after Molly's latest mammogram.

Neither of them could wait for their next Saturday's appointment and they had come in early just for the results.

They needed some good news.

Molly and Arthur were sitting in Telewospey's sparsely decorated office. Through the window a swirling cloud of snow could be seen, as though the storm had arrived with a vengeance and had no intention of letting up soon. The howling of the wind echoed around the room, filling its inhabitants with an unidentifiable dread.

Healer Telewospey opened up his file and began reading to himself. He frowned, peering more closely at the results. "I'm sorry- allow me to double check something. I will be right back." Telewospey scurried out of the office.

"Arthur, what do you suppose happened?" Molly immediately turned to her husband for support. "They said I was doing well! They said I was getting better! What-,"

"Shh, Molly," Arthur tried to soothe her. "We don't know what happened. Maybe it was just-"

"But what if it's something _bad_, Arthur? What if-" Molly cut off, suddenly finding her voice wasn't working anymore.

Healer Telewospey pushed open his office door slowly. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," he began. "I'm sorry to say that it looks as though the treatment is not working."

"What?" Arthur said, aghast.

Molly grasped the arm of her chair, trying desperately to hold on to something, anything that wasn't being thrown out of her control.

"It appears Molly's body is not responding to the Chemotherapy medications," Telewospey said apologetically. "I consulted with the other doctors in my department, and we've decided to move Molly up to radiation treatment. We can't risk the tumor growing anymore than it already has." He looked at Molly sadly.

"Otherwise, the surgery we performed will soon have been for nothing, and once that happens, the cancer can begin to spread from this area to others. We have to start now," Telewospey said.

_Radiation? _"B- but- I… I thought… I-," Molly couldn't speak.

Arthur looked over at Molly and gave her a look she didn't quite understand. Then he turned to Telewospey and said, "Of course, we'll do the radiation. But what does this mean long-term?"

"I must be very direct with you. The tumor has grown again in size, which means that there is always the chance that it could spread to other parts of the body." Telewospey sat down behind his desk and took out a sheaf of parchment.

"The side effects will be less severe, although the fatigue could be worse than before," Telewospey said. "The main thing you can do now is focus on keeping Molly rested so she can respond to the treatment more quickly."

Arthur nodded. "Anything else?"  
Healer Telewospey leaned in closer to Arthur. Perhaps he didn't know that Molly could still hear the Healer, but he said, "Don't let her panic. If she does, the cancer will spread faster."

Arthur took a deep breath. "If the treatment doesn't work?"

"She'll have six months before it spreads to a vital organ. Six months."

* * *

"Just leave me alone!" Lily shouted. "Grandmum's cancer has gotten worse and you're here to talk to me about Lorcan?"

"No! Of course not!" Lucy said reproachfully. "I was here to tell you that we've given up on matchmaking. Clearly, you two don't want to be together, and we respect that, especially during this time of emotional stress that you're under."

"...Oh. Thank you," Lily said sheepishly.

The two cousins turned a corner and there stood Lorcan, talking to his twin brother Lysander. He stopped, his mouth slightly open, when he saw Lily.

Lily stopped as well. Lucy and Lysander seemed to melt away into the shadows, neither of them wanting to interfere.

"Er- Hi, Lily," Lorcan managed.

"Hi."

"I was, uh, wondering… if maybe you'd like to- to go-," Lorcan stuttered. "To Hogsmeade? The- the next trip is this weekend."

"Oh, Lorcan. I'm sorry, but I- I don't feel up to it. My- well, my grandmum's cancer has gotten somewhat worse, and although they're treating it, I just- I'm scared that maybe she _won't _get better. And if she doesn't, then what will happen? There'll be a hole in my life that I don't know how to fill! When Dad was away on missions and Mum was beside herself with worry, we would go to grandmum and she'd make it all better, and whenever I feel down I just think of what she would do to cheer me up and now I-," Lily stopped when she realized tears were pouring down her cheeks.

Lorcan gathered her into his arms. "It's okay to be scared, Lily," he said.

"But I don't _want _to be scared! And now I sound like a blubbering mess because the cancer isn't even supposed to spread, but I'm _so worried _anyway, and- I can't lose her, Lorcan!" A sob escaped her.

Lorcan didn't say anything, but he held her in his arms until her sobbing gave way to sniffles.

"I'm here, Lily, and I won't be leaving anytime soon," he said.

* * *

As soon as Molly and Arthur returned home, Molly sank onto the sofa, her hands shaking. Arthur gave her a hug and left to Floo the rest of the family and the children at Hogwarts (Minerva had given special permission, given the situation of the Weasleys).

As soon as she had heard the news, Ginny had decided to Floo over with Harry.

At first they had avoided any discussion of Molly's cancer, but then as soon as the ice broke, Molly told Ginny and Harry everything that Telewospey said.

"Yes, he said that treatment is still possible if we do it fast enough," Molly finished. But what she didn't add was that, somewhere, there was a clock, ticking away the seconds of her life.

Once she had gotten home, she had avoided looking at it. But it seemed as though she was now hyper-sensitive to every click of the clock on the mantel. She glanced over and her heart dropped.

The hand labelled "Molly" had moved.

The point was resting in a new spot.

_Mortal Peril._

* * *

"Mum!" Ginny pounded on the door. "Mum!"

It was no use. Molly had all but run up the stairs and into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Ginny, Harry, and Arthur had tried to convince her to come out, but to no avail.

"What happened, Dad?" Ginny asked desperately.

"I- the Healer… he said…" A realization dawned in his eyes. "He told me that if the treatment didn't work, she'd have six months left." His voice caught on the last few words but Arthur kept going anyway. "I didn't think Molly had heard, but I suppose she did."

"Mum! Please open the door!" Ginny shouted, tears glistening in her brown eyes, which were once so full of light, but now were dimmed, as though the entire world was becoming dark.

Harry had remained silent throughout the entire conversation. When he finally opened his mouth to speak, what he said shocked both Ginny and Arthur.

"Ginny, Arthur, could you please both leave us alone for a moment?"

Ginny opened her mouth, clearly offended, but stopped herself when she caught the look in Harry's eyes. "Of- of course. Dad, let's go back downstairs."

She and Arthur made their way downstairs, leaving Harry alone on the landing, outside the door to the room where Molly took refuge. In the silence, Harry could hear quiet sobs emanating from the bedroom.

"I think I understand what you're going through, somewhat, at least," Harry began. "I know what it feels like to go through something traumatic like this. You probably feel all alone, like there's no one who understands what you're feeling. I'm guessing you also feel bitter, because why is this happening to you? And I also think you feel like, maybe it really is over for me." Molly's crying seemed to have lessened.

"Maybe I didn't have cancer, but when the Enigma injured me all those years ago, I felt the same thing. It just wasn't fair for it to happen to me. I kept all of my feelings bottled up for so long, and it definitely didn't help me get better." Harry recalled the painful time of recovery, when he felt as though he would never get better.

"But as soon as I started to talk about it, it got better for me. I can't say for sure that it will for you. But wouldn't you rather go out on a high than a low? Wouldn't you rather enjoy your time here, instead of wasting it, feeling bad for yourself?" Harry took a breath and then continued.

"I can say that I certainly learned that the times we have are precious. However much we are fortunate to get, we need to enjoy it," he finished.

The room went silent.

Harry waited.

The door swung open, and a pair of arms enveloped Harry.

"Thank you," Molly whispered.

"Of course. You're like a mother to me. I would do anything for you. But I hope that what I said helped you." Harry wiped his eyes. Maybe he'd accidentally gotten something in them, but they were a little watery.

"No, Harry. It was perfect."

* * *

**3 Months Later**

"First date with Lorcan was a success!" Lucy peered through her binoculars at the couple. Lily and Lorcan were standing outside the Three Broomsticks.

Molly looked over as well. "THEY'RE KISSING!" She all but screeched. She tumbled out from behind the bush that the four Weasley girls were hiding behind, taking Lucy and Roxanne out with her.

Lily and Lorcan broke apart.

"Hi, guys. I'm still going to kill you, but thanks for setting this up!" Lily said cheerfully as she began to chase her cousins.

* * *

Molly couldn't believe what she was hearing. "...Really?" she asked. She was in shock.

"Yes. Really."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm absolutely sure," Healer Telewospey smiled. "You're officially cancer-free."

Molly couldn't believe it. The past few months had been a multitude of ups and downs, with countless chemo and radiation sessions, a few emotional breakdowns, and physical difficulties. But she had taken Harry's advice to heart and had tried to enjoy the past few months as much as possible.

And everything that she had been through, everything that had happened, had all led to this moment.

As she and Arthur left the office, Molly couldn't help but noticing that the last bit of snow had melted away, and the sun was out, shining bright. She could smell the hints of spring on the breezes flowing past.

The storm had come and dealt a lot of damage.

But it didn't matter now.

Spring was here.

And she was cancer-free.

* * *

**Please review! It'd be amazing if we could get to 200 by the end of this story!  
**

**New chapter next week as well! Mark you calendars and we'll see you then!**


	46. The Eye of the Hurricane

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the support we've been getting, we're almost at 200 reviews! **

**We've been building up Teddy and Vic's relationship piece by piece in the previous oneshots, so we hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Release Dates:**

46\. _Saturday November 28th_

47\. _Saturday December 5th_

48\. _Saturday December 19th_

49\. _Saturday January 2nd_

50\. _Saturday January 16th_

_This oneshot takes place in Dec 2021_

_Teddy: 23 and 8 months_

_Vic: 21 and 7 months_

_**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. We own nothing but the plotlines**_. _**Also, we don't own any of the songs used in here. Single Ladies belongs to Beyoncé.**_

* * *

**The Eye of the Hurricane**

This was it.

Finally.

After 21 years.

_Ring shopping._

Just the thought of it made Teddy feel both excited and terrified.

He had decided it had been long enough since they had started dating, and now was a good, tactful time, especially with all of the happiness in the family from Molly no longer having cancer. It was now December, and she had been cancer-free for almost 9 months now.

And, of course, he loved Victoire more than anyone else. That was a big factor.

So he was proposing. He just needed a ring.

* * *

"Harry? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Teddy called, his head poking out of the Potter's fireplace. It was Saturday and Harry was home from the office.

He heard a thump, and then a shriek, and then footsteps coming in his direction. In a few moments, Harry appeared, soup all over his face and shirt and a bowl in his hands. There was a bit of bread resting precariously on his shoulder.

"Er- did I scare you, Harry?" Teddy asked, trying to control his laughter.

Harry glared at him. "No, I just decided to throw some boiling hot soup on my face for no reason at all."

Teddy couldn't help it. He burst into laughter, which just made Harry glare at him even more.

"Okay, sorry, sorry," Teddy said, calming down.

"So did you just come here to make fun of me or was there an actual reason?" Harry asked, putting a spoonful of soup in his mouth.

Teddy suddenly remembered why he had come. "Er- I want to ask Victoire to marry me," he said, blushing slightly.

Harry was silent for a moment, and then it hit him.

"OMG! OMG! AHH ! GIRL! AHH! GIRL!" He squealed, jumping up and down. "GIVE ME ALL THE DEETS!" However, he had forgotten about the bowl of boiling soup in his hands- actually, now it was everywhere _but_ in the bowl (like his face and the ceiling and the carpet).

And then he screamed some more, because who doesn't scream when they're covered in boiling hot soup?

* * *

"Wait… Did you tell anyone except me about this?" Harry asked, pulling a clean shirt over his head.

"Yes, I asked Bill and Fleur for their blessing." Teddy replied..

Asking for Bill and Fleur's blessing had gone something like this:

"_So, I- I want to ask her to marry me," Teddy finished. _

"_YOU WHAT?" Bill yelled. _

_Fleur put her hand on his chest. "Bill, they are happy. Isn't that what you 'ave always wanted?" _

_Bill sighed. "Yes. You can marry Victoire. But make sure you take care of her! And treat her right. If not, I know where you live."_

"I was told you forgot to ask Ginny's parents for their blessing when you proposed to her?" Teddy asked cheekily.

Harry blushed. "I was very stressed, alright?"

Teddy laughed.

"Okay… anyone else?" Harry questioned.

"No, not yet. I think I'll tell them after I buy the ring. Seems more official."

"Well, I'm honored you came to me first. Well, third," Harry said, chuckling.

Teddy smiled. Of course he came to Harry. He was the closest thing Teddy had to a father.

The two of them descended the stairs and went into the backyard. Almost simultaneously they Disapparated.

The two landed outside of the same ring store where Harry had bought Ginny's ring all those years ago, _Beaux Diamants. _Not much had changed. The inside was its usual shade of sickly pink. The only real difference was it seemed to have grown in popularity.

A line snaked out of the doorway and zig-zagged all down the street.

"Maybe we should go to a different store, Harry," Teddy suggested.

"No, no, this is the perfect store. We'll just have to wait." Harry made to stride over to the back of the line, but before he could, a voice rang out.

"Harry!" Romilda Vane exited the store. "You're back? Don't tell me you've divorced Ginny and now are coming to marry someone else?" She almost sounded hopeful, but Harry let it slide.

"No, no, it's for my godson, Teddy. He's proposing."

Romilda sized Teddy up. "Oh, my dear! You look just like Harry! Come in, come in! I insist, friends of Harry are friends of mine, and that _must _mean relatives of Harry would basically make us cousins! No need to wait in line, follow me!"

They both entered the store and Romilda led them over to the engagement rings section. Luckily for Harry and Teddy, she had to bustle away and help another customer.

"What about that one?" Harry suggested, pointing at a ring through the glass.

"Nah, that's too simple for her. Vic is flowery and dramatic and she likes big gestures. She's not simple and understated."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. They walked around the store, looking at more rings, but with no luck. Most of them were either too simple or too elaborate.

The two were just about to walk out of the store when something caught Teddy's eye.

Up on a stand, in the middle of the store (how had they missed that?), was a ring sitting on a blood red pillow. The ring had a silver band, but it looked as though it was two bands of silver twisted together. In the middle was a diamond, cut in a circular shape, and it just screamed Victoire. Teddy knew right then and there that this was the ring for her.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

The adults were having their weekly get-together potluck dinner at The Burrow. Teddy was sweating profusely. Tonight was the night that he was going to propose to Victoire. He had already asked Bill and Fleur, because he wanted to do things properly, and he had described his plan to the rest of the family. In fact, at this point, the only person who didn't know what would happen tonight was Victoire.

"TEDDY!" Victoire yelled.

Teddy jumped. "Huh? What? What's going on? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I've just been calling your name for the past fifteen minutes. Is everything alright? You look a little flushed."

Teddy started panicking. She was on to him. She knew he was proposing, she knew what was going to happen, he was making a fool of himself-

"I'll go get you some water. We don't want you getting sick."

_Oh_. Teddy sighed. Now he felt embarrassed. All of the stress was getting to him and it was making him insane. He had to keep his cool or Victoire really would find out.

* * *

It was time for dinner- and almost time for the big reveal. Teddy was shaking even more now that his proposal plan was so close to its starting time. Harry looked at him from down the table and gave him a look, like _Chill out, man_.

_Oh no! If Harry the Oblivious had noticed his jitters, then there was no way that they had gotten past Victoire!_

A glance to his right confirmed his fears. Victoire was giving him a worried look.

"Teddy? Are you sure you're alright? You've been shaking since we sat down to dinner," she whispered to him.

_Oh no. Oh no. What do I say, what do I say-_

"Teddy, dear. Why don't you come help me bring out the dessert?" Molly asked, a knowing twinkle in her eyes.

Teddy almost whooped with relief. "Yes, yes, of course."

Teddy and Molly made their way out of the dining room. As soon as they stepped foot into the kitchen, Molly let out a small chuckle. "You seem a bit nervous."

Teddy glared. "Hey! It's difficult being the man. We have to ask the girls everything! You don't understand how nerve wracking it is!"

"Yes, dear, I know," she said, comforting him. Once she was sure he wouldn't freak out again, she turned to cut the pie. Teddy walked to one of the cabinets and took out a stack of dessert plates.

"But what if she says no?"

Molly turned. It seemed his jitters were deeper than just nerves.

"She loves you, Teddy. She won't say no."

"But what if she does? I wouldn't be able to take that. I wouldn't be able to see her without thinking about it, and I wouldn't be able to see you all without remembering her, and- I'll have to move out of the apartment! The city, too because everything here would remind me of her... I'd have to move out of the country! Molly, she's going to say no! After loving her for 21 years, she's going to say no!"

Molly wiped her hands on a towel and walked over to Teddy, putting her hands on his arms.

"Teddy, look at me."

Teddy lifted his face up, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Listen to me. She will not say no. Do you hear me?"

Teddy nodded woefully.

"She has loved you for so long. And a couple months ago she told me that she wished you would hurry up and propose already. So please, pull yourself together and get out there! Propose to her! Ask the woman you love to marry you."

Teddy looked up, steeling himself. A look of determination was on his face, and he nodded in agreement.

"You're right. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to..." Teddy kept whispering his mantra under his breath as he made his way to the door. Unfortunately, in his steely resolve- induced state, he didn't notice that the pie was perched precariously on the edge of the counter. As he walked by it, his hand hit the pie, causing it to fly up in the air and land right smack in the middle of his face.

Molly let out a quick laugh. "What is it with proposals not going at all well in this family? First Harry lost his ring, then Ron accidentally made Hermione choke on hers and he had to do the 'hellmilk' maneuver, and now this." She sighed.

Teddy turned around, still looking determined, but with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"I'm still doing it. But first, I should clean my face."

* * *

"Alright, I'm all cleaned, and I reckon I'm ready now." Teddy picked up the ring box and marched out of the door. But as soon as he entered the dinning room, he stopped.

The entire family was performing Muggle Karaoke.

"All the single ladies, all the single ladies, all the single ladies, now put ya hands up!" Ron screeched. "I'M RONYONCÉ!"

"Wah oh oh," Percy chorused.

The rest of the adults were watching in amazement and wonder and a small amount of horror mixed in.

Vic was laughing along with the rest of the Weasleys.

Teddy couldn't ask her yet. Not with everyone here.

* * *

"This is it, I'm going to do it now," Teddy said, determined.

But as he exited the kitchen once more, he found the Weasleys playing an intense game of Exploding Snap.

"Uncle George, don't put that card there!" Bill laughed.

George, Percy, Ron, Harry, and Bill were on one team, and Ginny, Audrey, Hermione, Angelina, Fleur, and Vic were on the other.

Teddy approached the group. "Er- Vic?"

Vic, so focused on her card, jumped. The stack exploded, covering the entire girls' team in black soot.

"WHAT?" She almost shrieked.

"Never mind," Teddy sighed.

* * *

Eventually, the loud events of the evening quieted down, and Arthur brought out a bottle of champagne.

Most of the Weasleys had assumed Teddy had given up on proposing tonight and was going to do it some other time. Teddy had half a mind himself to do that.

But he couldn't back out now.

He picked up the ring box, stowed it in his pocket, grabbed a glass of champagne, and strode over to Vic, his hands shaking once more.

"Hey, Vic, I- uh, I need to talk to you?" But as he spoke, his hand jerked and the yellow liquid from the glass spilled all over her white blouse.

"%$&amp;#," he said.

* * *

"Vic? I- I need to talk to you," Teddy said, nervously running his hand through his hair (he had picked it up from Harry). She had gone to clean up in the bathroom, and he had followed her. After she came out, he had stopped her.

"Yes, Teddy? Did you want to spill another drink on me, maybe?" Victoire asked, slightly annoyed but mostly worried. In all the time that she had known him, Teddy had never acted so nervous. He was the most confident person she knew, and he was always calm and collected. So seeing him like this, shaking and sweating and having hand spasms, made her extremely worried. He was either really sick, or he was nervous.

"Er, sorry about that. I didn't really mean to. It was an accident."

"Well, I certainly hope so. I wouldn't want my boyfriend to go around spilling drinks on me on purpose," Victoire said, smirking slightly.

"Right. Er- well, I was wondering..."

"Teddy? Are you sure you're alright?" Victoire asked, worried again.

_Screw it,_ Teddy thought. "Victoire, I have loved you since the first time we met. I was two years old and you were a newborn. 21 years, I have loved you. And you love me, right?"

Victoire nodded, confused. "Of course I do, you know that, Teddy."

"I just had to make sure. So, now, Vic, I need to ask you something," Teddy took a deep breath.

"21 years seems like such a long time, but, really, I want to spend the next 21 years and more with you. Will you marry me?" Teddy asked. It wasn't the long, drawn out speech he had imagined himself saying, but then again, he was never really a man of many words.

Victoire stood there, silent. For a moment he feared she would say no, but then she spoke.

"Took you long enough, now, didn't it? Of course I'll marry you, you dolt!" She threw her arms around him.

He smiled. After this long, it had finally worked out.

* * *

"No! It can't be true! It- it _can't!_"

"I'm so sorry, Molly." The wind howled, the snow whipping against the window, almost masking the words, but not quite.

Her heart was pounding, thoughts flying around her head at the speed of light. _It's not true. I was cured! They said so. _She'd come in for her bi-monthly mammogram. The Healers had said it was just a precaution. But now...

Healer Telewospey sighed. "Your cancer is back. And it's gotten worse."

* * *

**New chapter next week also!  
**


	47. The Rain Came Pouring Down

**Hey guys. Sorry about last week's cliffhanger.  
**

**Can you believe there's only 3 more chapters after this one? It seems like almost yesterday we'd just posted the first oneshot, and now it's almost over. **

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter!  
**

**By the way, next chapter is not the next week, but is the week after (Dec 19) Mark your calendars!**

_This chapter takes place May 2022 (Wedding is June)_

_Ages (for the wedding):_

_Teddy: 24 and 2 months _

_Victoire: 22 and 1 month _

_Dominique: 20 _

_Molly II: 18 and a half _

_Louis: 18 and 4 months _

_James: 17 and 2 months _

_Fred: 17 and 1 month _

_Rose: 16 and a half _

_Albus: 15, almost 16 _

_Roxanne: 14 and 4 months _

_Lucy: 14 and 3 months_

_Hugo: 14 and 1 month_

_Lily: 13 and 10 months_

**Disclaimer:All rights go to J.K Rowling. We own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**The Rain Came Pouring Down**

Molly was sick. She knew it.

She could tell from her tired body, her jerky movements, her lack of hair.

And the fact that the Healers had said she would have six months to live.

At her weekly treatment session, Healer Telewospey had given her the news. Unless something short of a miracle happened, she'd have six months left.

Six months.

It seemed almost like an eternity.

But it really wasn't.

Six months.

A small blip in the huge river of time.

"I don't want- I don't want to die!" Molly whimpered.

Arthur soothed her as best he could.

"Molly… I guess… We all have to die eventually. I know that sounds very harsh, but it is true. But I think we should be happy. We've gotten to spend such a long time together. And we have an amazing family. You're so loved. And, we'll see each other again, wherever and whenever that is," Arthur said.

As Molly stood their with the love of her life, she sighed.

"Wherever this new road takes us, I'll be by your side, through thick and thin. I love you, Molly."

Perhaps the old Molly would have crumbled, maybe even given up.

But no, she knew she couldn't.

Molly drew from her own strength and from what Harry and Arthur had told her. She couldn't let this cancer beat her spirit. She owed it to herself, and to everyone who cared about her.

Teddy and Victoire had been putting off even mentioning their wedding for five months. But Molly would no longer let that happen.

Teddy and Victoire were going to have the best wedding ever, or her name wasn't Molly Weasley.

Perhaps the first wedding of her grandchildren's would be also be her last.

But the hope that she could make it the best one yet was what would keep her going.

* * *

As Victoire ran her fingers through the soft tulle, she sighed. The beauty of these dresses was unparalleled, but it was in stark contrast to the darkness that had come to envelop their lives.

She and Teddy had agreed to put off the wedding, what with everything going on with Molly. But then, last week, Molly had come to Vic and Teddy.

"_Teddy, Vic, I trust you've heard the news?" Molly asked softly. _

_Vic sniffled. "Y- yes." A tear escaped her. _

"_Well, don't wallow in sadness, because I'm throwing your wedding. I don't have much time left, but I really would like to see you two get married," Molly said._

_Teddy and Vic looked at each other. "We'd love that." _

Money was not an issue in the planning. Two weeks ago, Teddy had gone to the bank and found out that his great-great-great grandparents had left him an inheritance of 10,000 Galleons.

The reason he hadn't known about it until now was that the receipt was extremely messy, and until recently they had thought that the name on the slip was not "Lupin", but "Poopin." Eventually the Gringotts staff figured it out, though.

So now, Teddy and Victoire had more money than they needed. They'd given quite a lot of it to Arthur to help pay for Molly's treatment (Molly and Arthur had refused, but Teddy had worn them down until they gave in). They put at least three quarters of it in savings, since they still both loved their jobs and wanted to work, but this still left a sizeable amount to add to their wedding fund.

And so, the wedding would be wonderful, no doubt.

But Victoire was scared that perhaps Molly wouldn't be there to see it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Molly was yelling.

"No! No! The procession has to face _west_, not east! What are you, amateurs? And this food is awful! It doesn't taste homemade! It's takes like you got it out of a box!" Molly shouted, running around the yard and hitting the workers with a rolled-up newspaper.

Arthur looked at the scene. The wedding preparations were going full steam. Molly was focusing almost all of her time on the planning.

She had gotten Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione to come over today and help set up some things for the wedding.

It seemed to be good for everyone. It helped get their minds off Molly's cancer.

Speaking of the wedding, it appeared Molly was perfecting every detail and making everything she could more extravagant.

"Harry, Ron, please help the workmen lift the handmade, rare silk banner! They're going to rip it!" Molly cried.

"Hermione, Ginny, make sure the tables all point to an angle of 74.5 degrees!" Molly shouted.

"They're tables! Who cares!" Ginny protested. Molly whacked her daughter with the _Daily Prophet _in her hand.

Molly ran back to the center of the yard to survey the progress.

A workman came up to Molly, looking at his clipboard. "Er- ma'am, I don't think we can 'place flower vases in the light so the shining of the sun symbolizes the love of the couple.'"

Molly fixed him with a glare so scary that he quaked and, in addition to agreeing to set up the vases, offered to polish all the tables and silverware, too.

"Oh, dear, I have to order the flowers and make sure they arrive at exactly twenty seven minutes before the wedding to prevent wilting, make sure the food is perfect, get the silverware and make sure they look good, because I'm _sure _that workman won't polish it, and…" Molly mumbled to herself, making notes on a clipboard.

"Er- ma'am?" It was the same workman. He had his hands raised in a casually defensive position. "It's not in our contract to tame horses 'that will be the magical procession of the two lovers on their way to conjoined harmony. Make sure they're the correct color so it matches Vic's dress.' I also don't know if it's legal for the groom and bride to ride horses into the wedding tent, anyway."

Molly smacked him with her clipboard. "WHAT! YOU SAY IT'S NOT IN YOUR CONTRACT? I AM THE SUPREME MOTHER OVERLORD! THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE ARE COMMANDED BY ME! YOUR CONTRACT IS MY WORD! GET BACK TO WORK!"

The workman screamed in fright and ran to the horses.

Arthur went over to his wife. "Molly, please, just tone it down a bit. You're scaring the horses and the workmen."

"LET THEM BE SCARED OF ME!" Molly yelled casually.

Arthur chuckled.

Molly now turned her attention to the entrance of the tent, then gasped. "Arthur! The horses that Teddy and Vic are going to ride into the tent have escaped!" She shouted. "They're chasing Ron! Ah, no, they got him. Oh… they just deposited a manure package on his face."

* * *

"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked. They had just returned from the Burrow. Hermione had hoped that Ron seeing his mum again would make him feel better, but it seemed it had only made him feel worse.

"What? Fine," Ron said, staring off at nothing, his eyes unfocused. He'd been spacing out a lot, and Hermione knew it was because of what was happening to Molly.

Ron hadn't been himself lately. He'd been acting a little off, not eating too much (which was how Hermione knew this was serious), and just not as excited about things in general. Molly's condition had hit Hermione hard as well, but it seemed as though Ron had entered a permanent state of numbness, almost as if nothing mattered now but Molly.

Hermione thought that maybe it was because Ron was the youngest son, and he had always been overlooked by everyone but Molly. Ron was over that by now, since he was pretty famous (what with being one of the saviors of the Wizarding World and all), but the bond he and Molly had still remained. Maybe he was realizing now that one of the only people who had always noticed when he was down, and who had believed in him when even he himself had not, would be gone forever.

Hermione was scared. She was scared of what would happen if Molly died.

She knew that she and the rest of the family might not be able to take the loss of another Weasley.

* * *

The chaotic day had finally ended, and Molly and Arthur were lying in bed, relaxing.

"Molly?" Arthur said, quietly.

"Yes, Arthur?"

"Are you sure you should be yelling so much and planning all of this by yourself? I don't want you to put so much stress on yourself. You should rest."

Molly sighed. The practical part of her knew that she shouldn't be straining her body when it was already going through so much, but the emotional part of her wouldn't let her sit around in bed waiting for her granddaughter's wedding and allow someone else to do all the work. This was _her_ family, and damn it if she wasn't going to take care of it while she could.

"I know, Arthur. I should be resting in bed, letting others take care of the wedding. But it's too important to me. I-," her voice broke. "I know that I won't be around for much longer."

Arthur teared up. "No, Mollywobbles, don't say that-"

Molly kept going, cutting him off tearfully. "I won't be here to see the rest of my grandchildren married. I won't be able to plan their weddings with them, or look at dresses with the girls, or fix the boys' ties. I won't be here to tell Ginny to point the tables at a 74.5 degree angle, and I won't be here for her to tell me '_who cares, they're tables_'. No more giving candy to all of our grandchildren but Lucy, who for some reason prefers vegetables. No more Halloween costumes, no more birthdays, no more Christmases where everyone comes to the Burrow and stays up until three in the morning."

At this point, both Molly and Arthur were crying, tears streaming down their faces.

"So you see how important it is to me, Arthur, that I'm here for at least _one_ last big event in their lives. Just one wedding is all I get, and it's cruel, but it's alright. Life isn't fair. Nobody said it was. But please, Arthur, _please_ don't take this away from me." Molly clutched at Arthur, her body wracked with sobs.

Arthur hugged her back tightly.

"I would never."

* * *

**2 Weeks Later**

Molly breathed a sigh of relief. The wedding was as perfect as she could make it. She'd called all the caterers and yelled at them, had the tent set up, ordered the flowers and decorations, made sure everything was placed at the perfect angle, booked the band, _hit_ the band with newspapers, and gotten the guest list in order (with the help of Teddy and Victoire, of course).

And now, it was the week before the wedding. The weather was perfect. The light June breeze prevented it from being sweltering hot, but pleasant.

The guest list was finished, and everyone had replied saying they could come.

Molly had made sure the band would come early (she hit them with another newspaper for effect), tasted the food several times and made the head chef change his recipes, and made her sons readjust every chair in the tent seven times until she deemed every seat in the house was perfect.

The children at school who had not yet graduated would be returning from Hogwarts next week, just in time for the wedding.

Now, Molly slumped on the couch. She'd done her best. And she felt extremely happy about the wedding. _It better be perfect, or I'll be beheading people._

A thought occurred to her. "Arthur, let's call everyone over for dinner," she said, sitting up.

"Are you sure you're up to it, Mollywobbles?" Arthur asked her.

"Of course, Arthur. If I have six months, I want to spend them with my family. I don't want to feel sorry for myself alone in my bed. And once the rest of the kids come back from Hogwarts, you can bet I'll have them around every day, if that's what I need to do to spend time with them."

Arthur smiled. He almost couldn't bear the thought of losing his wife, the one he had loved for over fifty years. He looked at her cancer-wracked body and wanted to cry, but then he saw her eyes, bright with determination and hope, and he knew it would be alright in the end. If she died, he would see her again. There was no need to dwell on the inevitable.

* * *

"We've been invited to dinner at your parents' house," Harry said. "Ginny?"

He turned around and found his wife standing behind him, silent tears pouring down her face.

"Oh, Ginny." Harry crossed the room and put his arms around Ginny.

"She has five months, Harry. I only have five months left with my mum!" Ginny sobbed.

"It's okay, Ginny, it's okay." Harry soothed her,

"I have to stay strong for her, but it's just so hard! This is like losing Fred all over again, except now... Mum is the glue of our family. I can't just lose her like this!"

As Harry held Ginny, he could think of nothing to say. Before, when Molly's cancer wasn't as bad, it had been easier. But now, how were they supposed to cope with something like this?

* * *

Dinner was a supposed to be a joyous affair, celebrating the closeness of Teddy and Victoire's wedding, but almost everyone immediately sensed the tension and underlying gloom that permeated the air.

Arthur and Molly both attempted to make some conversation, which failed.

"Have you all gotten your tuxedos for the wedding?" Arthur asked his sons and son-in-law sternly.

Ron blushed. "Er- I accidentally burned mine. But Hermione's going to fix it."

"I do want to have us all try on the dresses one more time before the big day," Molly said to the girls.

A few words or a terse nod were exchanged here or there, but it was clear that the family was not feeling up to their normal state of cheeriness.

Molly tried a stab at humor. "Teddy, I was thinking we'd give everyone a grappling-hook shaped party hat. It'd be like old times, when you ran around Hermione and Ron's wedding with it and knocked out the groom. Don't you remember that?" She chuckled.

Teddy grinned, but quickly returned to his dinner.

Molly sighed.

Her cancer was definitely taking a toll on everyone.

* * *

When Molly woke up two days after their dinner, something seemed off. It seemed as if she was having a hard time gathering the energy to get out of bed. Doing her best, she swung her legs over the side of the mattress and slowly got to her feet.

The room whirled for a minute, and Molly suddenly found herself on the bed again.

She grabbed the glass of water beside her and took a long gulp. Then she planted her feet on the ground and stood up once more.

The room didn't tilt anymore, but her hand suddenly jerked and trembled. She lost her grip on the glass and it shattered on the cold wooden floor.

Arthur rushed in.

"Molly, are you alright?" he asked.

Molly's head suddenly cleared. "Of course, Arthur. I just knocked it off the nightstand. I'm fine." _He can't know. The wedding is in five days. _

"I'll just go wash up now." Molly padded out of the room.

* * *

**5 Days Later **

Wedding day. It was wedding day.

And Victoire was not nervous at all.

She was confident that she was making the right decision. She had known Teddy all her life, _literally_, and she had felt these feelings for him all her life too. They'd been living together for almost four years, which seemed like a long time, but getting married really didn't seem like such a big step, since they basically were married already. It was simply a formality, but it was one she'd be happy to complete.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about today, except that she would be wearing a beautiful white dress and telling Teddy she loved him in front of their friends and family.

Nothing she hadn't done before (except for the white dress part).

So there was no reason to be nervous.

Now she just had to tell the women helping her get ready.

"Where's my hairspray? I can't find it and I can't go out there with bushy hair!"

"My left shoe! It's missing!"

"Hairbrush, where's the hairbrush? Maybe that'll help with the frizziness..."

"I LOST MY DRESS!"

"NO! The hairbrush only made it worse! I should know that after all these years with frizzy hair, I'm just so nervous..."

"WHERE'S MY DRESS oh there it is I'm wearing it."

"I NEED HAIRSPRAY!"

Victoire surveyed the scene in front of her.

"Honestly, we're such a mess without Mum helping us," Ginny said absentmindedly.

The abrupt silence was so quick, it left their ears ringing.

"I- I didn't mean-" Ginny sputtered.

No one spoke, but their faces betrayed the truth. They all realized it.

This would be Molly's last wedding. Never again would she be there to help them, plan their kids' weddings, yell at the caterers, and to love them….

"Ladies," Fleur spoke up. "We shall not let thees beat us. Thees wedding ees what Molly has wanted for so long. We weell enjoy it. _Pour elle._ For her."

Perhaps it was the progress Fleur had shown, from at first being the bane of Molly's existence, to now being as close to Molly as any of her other sisters-in-law, but it shocked the rest of them into action.

"Right!" Angelina said. "Hermione, let's fix up that hair of yours."

"I found the left shoe!" called Audrey from a corner of the room.

Victoire looked around and smiled.

* * *

"Teddy! Have you seen my cufflinks- oh." Harry stopped short, having suddenly found Teddy.

Teddy was sitting on a bench outside. He didn't even notice when Harry sat next to him. He only stirred when Harry put his arm around his shoulders in a fatherly gesture.

"What's wrong, Ted?" Harry asked. It wasn't like Teddy to be so quiet.

"I just- I don't know, Harry. I'm nervous. I mean, I have absolutely no reason to be, because Victoire's assured me multiple times that she loves me, and I _know_ that she loves me, and I know that I'm making the right decision here, by marrying her. I just don't know what's bothering me!"

Harry sighed. This was completely unlike Teddy, and he had no idea how to handle it.

"And I mean, Molly's here for my wedding, so I should be thankful, and I am, but-"

Harry sat up. "Maybe you're scared for Molly," he suggested gently.

Teddy looked up, his eyes red. "Maybe," he whispered.

"Teddy, look at me. Everyone dies someday. I will die. You will die. _Molly will die_. But we can't sit around our whole lives wondering what will happen. We need to have fun while we can. We can't stop living our lives to think about what will happen when they end. You have a life to live. And Molly's life is seeing her family happy. She wants to see you and Victoire happy, and _married_. Don't you owe that to her?"

Teddy looked into the distance with a steely resolve. "Yes," he decided. "I do."

* * *

"I can't believe I'm on seat duty. _Again._ I always am for these weddings!" Ron complained to Arthur. "Where's mum, I want to change my assignment."

"She's sleeping in, Ron. She was feeling a bit tired yesterday and wanted to be at full energy for the wedding," Arthur replied. His voice didn't waver, but his eyes gave away his fear.

Ron, however, didn't exactly pick up on this, for at that exact moment, a large man with a bushy beard walked up to him.

"Ron!" Hagrid bellowed, clapping the redhead in question and knocking him to the ground. ""Ow've you been?"

"Hagrid! It's been so long!" Ron cried, massaging his shoulder as he got up.

"I guess you haven' met me family," Hagrid gestured behind him.

Ron's mouth dropped.

Madame Maxime strolled up to Ron and Hagrid, her long gown as majestic as ever. But that was not the surprising part.

She was holding a bundle the size of about three loaves of bread, but in comparison to the huge people in front of him, he looked absolutely miniscule.

It was a baby.

"Blimey! How-?" Ron blubbered.

"Ron, you know…" Hagrid gestured.

Ron blushed scarlet. "I mean, you didn't tell us!"

"Giant pregnancies're on'y two months long!" Hagrid boasted proudly. "By the time 'e knew she was with the baby, he was practical'y crawlin' out of her!"

"What's his name?" Ron asked.

"Guntypoprutinyogle," Hagrid said, beaming.

"Oh… er- that's a wonderful name," Ron said weakly.

"Zank you, Ronald," Madame Maxime said. "It was Grawp's idea."

"Oh... That's... wonderful? I'll take you to your seats now," Ron suggested.

* * *

Once Ron led Hagrid and Madame Maxime to their seats, and met the baby (Guntypoprutinyogle tried to eat one of Ron's fingers and almost succeeded), he made his way back to the entrance of the tent.

When he arrived he found a few more old friends.

"Neville!" Ron grinned. They shook hands.

Neville looked better than ever, and so did Hannah.

16-year old Alice smiled at Ron.

"Albus is inside," Ron winked. They all knew the two were now dating. Alice made her way into the Burrow.

"How has everything been, Neville?" Ron asked conversationally.

"We've been really busy with the restaurant, but McGonagall let me live off Hogwarts grounds now, so I can help Hannah year-round," Neville started.

Soon after their conversation ended, Ron had to lead Neville and Hannah to their seats, because the line forming behind them had grown quite a bit.

_How many people did Mum invite? _Ron thought grouchily. But then he thought, _Where is she?  
_

* * *

Arthur made his way into the Burrow, which was teeming with people. He tried to get to the stairs without bumping into anyone, which was a mighty feat in itself.

_I need to check on Molly. _But before he could climb the stairs, Molly came down.

She looked beautiful. What hair she had left was up in a perfect bun, and her dress shimmered like her eyes.

"Hi, Arthur. I'm ready for the final wedding," Molly said, her eyes full of tears of sadness, but also joy.

Arthur embraced her. "I love you, Mollywobbles."

They stood in each other's arms for a few moments, then let go.

The two entered the sitting room, which had emptied as almost everyone had left to take their seats.

As Arthur led Molly across the room, she stumbled.

"OW!" She said.

Arthur managed to catch her. "Molly, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, dear, my shoe caught on the shirt Ginny so CARELESSLY LEFT ON THE FLOOR!" Molly yelled sweetly.

At that moment, the door opened, and Charlie entered.

"Charlie!" Molly said, rushing over to hug him.

"I couldn't miss the wedding, could I?" Charlie asked, grinning. "You'd have my head."  
"Now we're all here," Molly said. "It's going to be perfect."

Molly, Charlie, and Arthur now filed out of the sitting room, but as Arthur gazed back at where Molly had stumbled, he blinked.

The floor was devoid of any shirt Molly could have tripped on, but before he could process this, the sound of Molly yelling at the caterer again made him rush over to her.

* * *

"Last person is… Luna!" Ron said cheerily. He was glad to be done with this seat business. He'd been attacked several times by different elderly Weasley women who had wanted better seats.

"Hi, Ron. How have you been?" Luna asked dreamily, holding her husband Rolfe's hand. It looked as though the pair had drifted into the courtyard together on a cloud of mist.

Her two sons, Lorcan and Lysander, fidgeted uncomfortably behind their parents.

"Listen, where are James and Lily and everyone?" Lorcan asked.

"Just behind the tent. James, Lily, and Albus are going to hold the rings and do the flower stuff," Ron said crudely. "They're like Teddy's younger siblings, and he wanted them to do it."

"Thanks!" Lorcan sped off, leaving Lysander to enter the tent with his parents.

* * *

"Alright, so, James and I will turn around the corner and open the tent, and then we will-" Albus stopped short.

"OI! WE LEFT FOR A MINUTE! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" James yelled.

Lily and Lorcan were standing behind a tree, and from this distance it was quite obvious that they were snogging.

"Lorcan, you little-" James sprinted towards his sister.

Albus sighed.

Lily and Lorcan broke apart at the arrival of her brothers.

"Woow. Look who's butting in," Lily said, slightly annoyed.

"How long has this been going on?" James asked furiously.

"Almost a year and a half," Lorcan said uncertainly, looking at Lily. He seemed to be perplexed by this turn of events. He and his brother certainly did _not_ attack the other while they were snogging with their respective girlfriends. This was an odd experience.

"A year and a half and I didn't notice?" James spat.

"You are pretty thick headed," Albus said. "I've known for a while now."

"And you didn't tell me?" James rounded on his brother. "_Traitor." _

"James, shut up, please," Lily said, throwing her shoe at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll allow it. For now." James twisted on his heel and stalked off.

Albus mouthed "Sorry," and followed his brother.

* * *

Teddy stood at the end of the aisle. He was so happy. He was finally marrying Victoire, the woman he had loved since he was 2 years old, but something felt off. He couldn't quite place it, but it felt as though something was about to go very, very wrong...

But then his breath caught, and his heart sped up, and his hands started shaking, because there stood Victoire, in a gorgeous white dress that looked as though it had been sewn onto her body, made just for her. And it was. Fleur had seen to that.

He couldn't talk, could barely even breathe, but he somehow held himself together.

Victoire walked down the aisle, a light smile playing on her lips, her hands clasping her bouquet to her chest.

Just as the minister opened his mouth, a yell came from the audience, and all heads swiveled to the front row.

Molly was on the floor.

Face down.

* * *

**Please review with your opinions. We're almost at 200 reviews. We'd never expected we'd get this type of response to this fic. Thank you all.  
**

**Release Dates: (remember, next chapter is not next week, but the week after, on December 19)**

47\. _Saturday December 5th_

48\. _Saturday December 19th_

49\. _Saturday January 2nd_

50\. _Saturday January 16th_


	48. The Aftermath

**Hey guys, **

**New chapter this week, hope you enjoy. **

**This is a very sad chapter, just as a heads-up. **

_**Next chapter is Saturday January 2 (not next Saturday but the one after) Mark your calendars!**_

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. We own nothing but the plotlines.**

* * *

**The Aftermath**

_Victoire walked down the aisle, a light smile playing on her lips, her hands clasping her bouquet to her chest._

_Just as the minister opened his mouth, a yell came from the audience, and all heads swiveled to the front row._

_Molly was on the floor._

_Face down._

"Molly! Molly! Get up!" Arthur was beside himself with worry, and he was not helping the situation at all.

Everyone else stood stock-still, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Luna moved to the front, next to the face down Molly.

"We need to get her to St. Mungo's," Luna said, picking up Molly's wrist. "She's got a pulse still, but it's barely there. We need to hurry."

* * *

"Quick! Get her through!" Ginny asked, sprinting to the door and shoving it open.

The St. Mungo's Wizarding Parking Lot, a new creation, was practically empty on this quiet Sunday afternoon.

Bill and Percy ran forward, levitating Molly on a stretcher with their wands.

Arthur stumbled behind his children and grandchildren, all of whom streamed towards the entrance in a rush.

He didn't know what to do. His entire mind was filled with worry for Molly. It was as though a weight had settled itself into his stomach and was poisoning all of his thoughts with panic.

"Dad," Ron said, grabbing Arthur's arm. "We need to go inside."

Arthur shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Y-yes, we do." The Weasley family rushed into the hospital.

"We need a room!" Ginny said frantically. "Where's Healer Telewospey? Our mum collapsed!"  
Ginny had made it to the front desk of the waiting room. The rest of her siblings, children, nieces, and nephews filed in from the Parking Lot. The nurses at the desk seemed slightly intimidated by the huge crowd of Weasleys.

"Er-" One nurse opened her mouth.

"I'm right here," Telewospey said, clearing a path into the room. "What seems to be-" He cut off once he caught sight of Molly. "Oh, dear."

* * *

Arthur hurried alongside Healer Telewospey as he hustled along the corridor behind the gurney on which Molly was being driven. The nurses had kept the huge crowd of Weasleys at bay. The only people allowed to go with Molly were Arthur and Bill, the eldest child.

"What happened to her?" Arthur asked shakily.

Telewospey was simultaneously reading a file, taking notes, and attempting to speak to Arthur all at once.

"You tell me!" Telewospey said, clearly very tense. "It says here that Molly has not been to her treatments in over a month! We sent letters to remind you all, but you haven't shown up! I personally Apparated to your house, where I met her, and Molly told us two weeks ago that she would come in, but she never did! How could you let that happen?"

Arthur's heart stopped. "N-no! I remember! Every Saturday, she would leave the Burrow for her appointments! She'd leave at noon and come back a few hours later, and I'd even see her medical papers. You're saying she just _didn't show up_?" Arthur almost wailed. Bill placed his hand on his father's arm.

"She has not been here for a treatment session in over a month," Telewospey said grimly. "I don't know what else we can do now."

_How could I have been so stupid? _Arthur thought. _I should have gone with her to the hospital! _

The gurney stopped, and Arthur would have walked straight into it had Bill not grabbed his jacket.

They had reached the end of the corridor, where a set of double doors led into a sterile white room.

"Sir, we will be taking her in now," a nurse said. "No family can come in while we do our diagnostics."

Arthur and Bill held back, uncertain. Telewospey eyed them.

"I'll do my best to save Molly," he said. And then he and Molly both disappeared into the white room.

* * *

"What d'you mean, she didn't go to her appointments?" Percy asked harshly. "How does someone just miss all their _cancer treatment_ appointments?"

Bill and Arthur had returned to the waiting room, where the Weasleys all sat, desperate for news. Bill had taken the job of telling everyone what Telewospey had said because it seemed that Arthur could not speak.

He was sitting with his face in his hands, and everyone knew that he was hiding tears.

"How could we have been so clueless?" Hermione asked softly, her eyes watery.

"Ask him," George said harshly. No one knew who he was speaking about for a few seconds. "Dad. How come you didn't check on her? It was your job!" George almost yelled the last few words.

The tension in the room increased tenfold.

"George!" Ron said suddenly. "It sounds like Mum tricked Dad. You can't have expected him to know."

"Why didn't you go with her to the hospital, Dad?" Ginny asked, her voice low but shaking.

"I- I thought she came here! She left the house every week for St. Mungo's and she came back with her papers. I would have gone with her, but she told me to stay home and help set up different things," Arthur said, not comprehending everything that was happening. He just felt so _numb_.

"We were all busy with _their _wedding!" George said. "Dad let her run around all crazy-like, and it must have sapped her energy, all for _their _wedding!" He glared at Teddy and Victoire.

"Don't blame them, George," Harry said gently. "It wasn't their fault."

"Yes, it was! Mum might die, and it's because _Dad _didn't check in on her!" George yelled.

"George, shut up!" Percy said suddenly. "It's not his fault!"

"Lay off him, Perce," Bill said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Yeah, Bill, let's lay off George, who's actually trying to figure out _why_ none of us realized that Mum skipped all her treatments! Where were you? I haven't seen you around the Burrow _once_, and it was your own daughter's wedding!" Ginny said angrily.

"Ginny, we can't just accuse everyone. I think it's all our faults, we all should have taken the time to go with her, and to check on her, and-" Hermione said, trailing off. "We all could have done something to help, but it does no good fighting about it now."  
"She's not even your mum!" George yelled at Hermione. "What do you know, anyway?"  
Harry, Ron, and Percy opened their mouths at once, all of them ready to defend Hermione, when Fleur spoke for the first time. She had been oddly quiet during the entire argument, but what she said now had the most effect over the group.

"You are all acting mad! Molly ees in danger, and we are sitting here, arguing over who shall take ze blame! We must not fight. Molly would not want thees."

George sighed. "Fine. Dad… I'm sorry for what I said. And, Hermione, Teddy, Vic, you too."

Ginny wiped her face. "I- I'm sorry too."

Arthur nodded. He had been blaming himself as well.

"I don't think we should blame ourselves," Lucy piped up. The children, if one could even call them that anymore, had all been silent. "Grandmum obviously had a reason for not telling us everything, so I think we should find out what it is," Lucy trailed off.

But no one could find an answer. Why would Molly lie to them about this?

* * *

Molly blinked slowly, adjusting to the bright lights. She lifted her head, trying to look at her surroundings, but quickly put her head back down when a sudden dizziness overcame her. She could tell that she was hooked up to a machine of some sort, because there was something covering her nose. She looked to the right, and saw a red button that, if pushed, would call for a nurse. But before she could push it, the door opened and Healer Telewospey walked in. He was looking down at his clipboard at first, so it took him a minute to notice that she was awake.

"Molly! How wonderful. I'm glad you're awake. Your family's waiting outside."

Molly tried to speak, but found that her words were garbled by the mask covering her nose.

"Oh, yes, that is an oxygen mask. We've got you hooked up to an oxygen machine, and I'll explain everything once you've gotten more sleep and are fully rested. Would you like for me to send in your husband?" Telewospey asked.

Molly nodded.

Telewospey smiled, nodding. "I will. And ask him to call for me if you need anything else, Molly. I will be back in an hour or so to explain what has happened." He left the room, leaving the door open just a crack.

Not too long after, Arthur walked in and closed the door behind him. His eyes glistened with unshed tears and worries, but everything was better now that Molly was awake and still with him. He sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand, gently tracing little circles on it with his thumb. Molly had once told him, many years ago, that it brought her comfort, and so now Arthur did it whenever he could.

Molly closed her eyes, smiling slightly.

After a few moments, Arthur spoke.

"Why?" He asked.

Molly looked up at her husband and saw the tears in his eyes. She knew she could not keep the secret any longer.

"The cancer was already ruling my life. It dictated everything I did, and how long I could do it for… I didn't want to let it take over my choices, too," Molly said, remembering the nights she had stayed awake, long after Arthur had drifted into his dreams, thinking… _losing hope…._

"I figured, if I'm going to lose this battle eventually, I wouldn't need to go through with the treatment that always made me feel awful for days on end. I just wanted to focus on being happy for the wedding…" She stopped short. _The wedding!_

"Arthur!" Her eyes flew open. "Did I-" her breath caught, "-Did I miss the wedding?"

Arthur sighed. "They put the wedding on hold. They said it didn't feel right, not with you in the hospital."

Molly put her head back on the pillow, sighing. All of that work had been a waste… And now she would never see the first of her grandchildren be married.

"I suppose I should've just gone to the treatments while I still could've, right?" Molly tried to smile, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Arthur remained silent, but from the look on his face Molly knew what she had done would haunt him. He would never be able to forgive himself.

And for this, Molly felt the end of her world fast approaching.

* * *

Later that evening, long after the rest of the family had departed to their homes, each in a varying state of grief, Molly's hospital room door opened.

Healer Telewospey entered, looking grave as usual.

"Hello, Molly. I hope you're comfortable?" He asked, making a stab at cheeriness.

"Please, Healer, just tell me. How long do I have?" Molly asked. Perhaps it was the fact that the inevitable was here, but Molly was not scared.

"The cancer has spread to your brain," Telewospey started, "We're trying our best, since you missed so many weeks of treatment, but…"

"But….?" Molly prompted.

"You have two weeks."

* * *

**1 Week Later**

Molly was feeling terrible.

The first few days were alright, but soon after, she'd started having headaches and confusion, and she could not remember the last time she had gotten out of her bed.

The nurses were handling everything for Molly. They took care of her since she could not.

The first time the family had come to visit after the prognosis was delivered was very emotional for all of them, but even still, it appeared the family had taken up a new resolve.

"_And so… I have two weeks left," Molly finished, making sure no tears escaped her. She had to stay strong for her family. _

_Not a single person spoke. _

_And then, one by one, just as they had done when Molly's cancer had just been diagnosed, they came to stand by her. _

_They couldn't let it beat them._

_They wouldn't let it beat them. _

* * *

**3 Days Later**

_Knock, knock._

"Come in," Molly called weakly.

The door opened, and in came Victoire and Teddy.

"Hey grandmum," Teddy started.

"Teddy, Vic, it's wonderful to see you," Moll managed a smile.

Her first thought was of confusion, because the entire family had been here to visit maybe two hours ago. But her second was of surprise, as Vic was in her wedding dress and Teddy was wearing his tuxedo.

"We- we thought, since you… since seeing the wedding was one of your wishes, we thought…" Vic trailed off.

"We want to let you see our wedding, by having it here." Teddy pushed the door open and the minister came in.

Molly's heart swelled with joy as the minister began. "Do you, Theodore Remus Lupin, take Victoire Violeta Weasley…"

It wasn't the extravagant ceremony Molly had laboriously toiled over for weeks.

But it was the wedding she had hoped to see.

And she loved it.

* * *

**2 Days Later**

Molly knew she was dying.

Even the simplest of tasks would send pain and dizziness in endless waves throughout her body.

The last time she had seen her children, she had nearly broken down.

"_I- I just want to say, I love you all so much," Molly started, and then the tears came, and then many pairs of arms were around her, holding her tight, holding her like she had held them all those years ago, all those nights punctuated by nightmares and all those nights where she had not slept because her children were not sleeping. _

_All the nights and days they had together. _

"_Goodbye…" Molly whispered. She did not know if she would see them again. _

_But they would be alright. _

_She had done her job and raised them to be great people. _

_Molly was proud to be the Weasley mother._

Arthur had taken up a bedside vigil. He hadn't left Molly's side for over 48 hours.

He had taken Molly's hand and was tracing little circles into it with his thumb once again.

They sat in silence.

Every tick of the clock unsettled Molly. Maybe she should be using her last few days differently, but nothing came to her mind.

"Remember when you and I were switched?" Arthur asked suddenly.

"What?" Molly asked, sure she had misheard him.

"When I was attacked by Nagini… and I was in the hospital, only you were doing the comforting and I was in the bed."

"Oh… How could I forget? That was the time you let them sew you up like one of Ron's old jumpers!" Molly chuckled, lightly swatting her husband.

They went on and on, reminiscing about the life they had had together.

So many memories flowed.

Happiness, tears, anger, stress.

But also love.

"Remember what I had told you on our wedding night?" Arthur asked.

"You said a lot of things to me on that night, most of which I probably should not repeat," Molly winked. All of the laughing and memories seemed to have given her a little strength, which she gladly accepted, even if she knew it was temporary.

Arthur blushed slightly, but then plowed ahead. "I told you… I told you we'd have the life we've always dreamed of together."

Molly smiled at the memory. "Yes, I remember."

"Well… I think we really did it, Mollywobbles. We've had one hell of a life, but I think we made it work," Arthur gave her a watery smile.

Arthur embraced his wife, and together they wept.

They wept for their love.

For their loss.

For what their life had been.

And for its end in death.

* * *

_Release Dates: _

**_Next chapter is Saturday January 2 (not next Saturday but the one after) Mark your calendars!_**

49\. Saturday January 2nd

50\. Saturday January 16th


	49. Love is Stronger Than Death

**Hi everyone. **

**Can you believe, this is the second-to-last oneshot of this fic? Seems like yesterday we started writing the first chapter. **

**Here's the new chapter.  
**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. We own nothing but the plotlines.  
**

* * *

**Love is Stronger Than Death**

The reminders were everywhere. Molly's old chair in the corner of the living room, right next to the fireplace. All of her pots and pans, her recipes, her apron; the kitchen in general. Every room was a reminder- memories of the one they loved, the one they lost.

But Arthur had it the worst. He had to stay in the Burrow, day after day, constantly being reminded of the fact that Molly was gone.

So he moved out. It was too painful for him to stay in the Burrow. He tried to stay with his children and their families, but they reminded him too much of Molly as well. Ginny was the worst, because being the only girl, she automatically brought him back to Molly, but the similarities continued. Ginny's character, her fiery attitude, even her eyes- they were all Molly's.

Arthur knew he had to be alone, so he packed up his things and left. He moved out to the country, to a secluded little cottage next to a small lake. His only regret about his new house was that Molly wasn't there to share it with him.

He didn't tell anyone where he was going or when he'd be back, because, honestly, he didn't really know.

But living here was easier. There were no obvious reminders of Molly, only the sweet scent of wildflowers and the gentle _lap lap lap_ of the lake, the soft hum of the warm breeze and the solidity of the sun. Because after having lost so much, after his life having changed so drastically, it was comforting to know that the sun would always be there for him, that he could count on it to come up every morning and go down every night.

The days turned into weeks, and the weeks stretched into months. During this time, Arthur had made a comfortable life in his country cottage, his days falling into a pattern, having a soothing rhythm about them.

And then suddenly it was October, and Arthur had spent over a year away from the Burrow, away from his family.

One day, Arthur was taking a walk outside, when suddenly he caught a whiff of something. It smelled like... it smelled like _autumn_. And all of a sudden he was crying, because autumn was Molly's _favorite month_ and how could he have left his family for so long? They were going through the same thing, but they had lost their mother and how could he be so... so _selfish_ to leave them alone like that when he knew what they were going through? They should be sticking together, not staying apart.

And so Arthur went back to his cottage and packed everything up, because while the months away had been good for him, he had known that this would have to end, that he would have to go back, someday. And that someday was today.

* * *

The Weasley siblings still held their weekly dinners, even though they had lost both their parents. But it was a tradition, and Molly was always religious about upholding tradition, and keeping this one going made the siblings feel that they were honoring her, in a way.

It was on one such Saturday evening that Arthur appeared. The siblings and their families were laughing and talking, even though it was still a little subdued, but they were all well on their way to being healed by now. And they still held the dinners at the Burrow, because it made them feel as though Molly was still there, as though she joined them every week.

They had just finished up dinner and Ginny and Fleur were bringing out the dessert when there was a knock on the door. Everyone looked at each other. Could it be...?

"Maybe it's the boogeyman!" George squealed, ducking under the table.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Maybe it's dad," Bill said aloud what everyone had been hoping for, but had almost given up on.

"Well, we're not going to find out just sitting here," Percy said briskly, getting up and crossing the room to the door.

The entire room took a breath as Percy grasped the knob and pulled open the door.

"HELLO! I'm Fillip and do you have a problem with random clowns attacking your home with turkey legs well I have the cure!" Fillip spoke very fast and then held up a garden hose. "Spray them with these and the clowns will disappear!"

Percy shut the door. "Never mind then."

A sigh of disappointment could be heard across the room.

_Knock, knock. _

"Fillip, go away!" Ginny whipped out her frying pan-weapon.

The knocking grew more intense as Ginny crossed the room and opened the door.

"FILLIP! TAKE THAT!" Ginny swung her frying pan. There was a thump as someone fell onto the doorstep.

Everyone stared in shock.

"Sh$&amp;!" Ginny cried. "It's dad!"

* * *

"I am so sorry I knocked out dad," Ginny said. "I don't know what came over me, I thought it was Fillip at the door."

The family had congregated in the sitting room, where Harry had built up the fire and they sat, watching Arthur.

Hermione gave a faint smile as she said, "He's waking up!"

The Weasleys gathered around the sofa on which Arthur lay.

"Uhhh," Arthur said groggily, opening his eyes. "Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You're lying on the couch because Ginny knocked you out, and I'm not entirely sure how you got here. We're hoping you can explain," Percy said matter-of-factly.

Arthur rubbed his head. "I came back to see everyone-" As he said this, he appeared to gain more focus on what he was saying, "-and to apologize for being away for so long. I- I shouldn't have left you all like I did, but I felt as if I needed to get away from it all, and-"

Ron cut him off. "It's okay, dad."

As Arthur's children moved to embrace their father, even after all that had happened, after all the time that had passed, and after everything they had been through together, Arthur realized that the Weasley family's bond was too strong to be defeated by anything in the world.

Losing Molly was hard, but they would be okay. They would survive.

They always did.

* * *

Why was the light turned up so brightly? And why did her head pound and feel as if someone had stuffed it with one of her Weasley sweaters?

Molly sat up, her head swimming.

"Ugh, where am I?" She asked aloud.

"It would be easier to ask where you haven't been," a voice said. It sounded so familiar, but Molly couldn't place her finger on it...

A red-headed woman came into focus. She was standing, her vivid hair shining with such a contrast from the rest of the white world.

"I'm Lily," Lily Potter smiled. "But I suppose you already know who I am, since you've taken such good care of my son for all of these years."

And at that moment, Molly realized where she was. And what had happened.

A few tears sprang to her eyes.

"Don't worry, Molly. You'll be reunited with Arthur and the rest of your children, eventually," Lily said gently. "It was hard for me at first, but then I found James, and now we're happy, watching over Harry, his family, and yours. I guess… I suppose it's our way of saying thank-you for being Harry's mum when I couldn't." A few tears escaped Lily's eyes as well, but she was still smiling.

"And now, there's someone who wants to meet you," Lily said. "Take my hand."

Molly obliged, and together the two of them walked, through the white landscape.

"I didn't realize it would be so- so bright," Molly chuckled.

"Oh, you haven't seen it _really._ This is just a crossroads of sorts, I guess one could say… But I don't think you would like to go back as a ghost, would you?" Lily asked softly.

Molly sighed. If she did, and went back to see her family, it wouldn't be good for them. They had to move on and let go of her.

"No… I wouldn't."

"That's what I thought. But now, we're here." Lily stopped walking.

A figure approached through the mist in front of the two women.

Molly squinted. No, it couldn't be….

As the figure became clear and she saw who it was, tears of joy overcame her. After so long, she could finally see her son again.

"Hi, mum. It's Freddie."

"Oh, Fred!" The entire world halted, or what seemed like the world, and maybe it wasn't actually a world anymore, but Molly didn't care, because _Fred_, her Freddie was here.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed into his shoulder. It wasn't fair he had to die so early. It wasn't fair about anyone who had died in the war. And as she wept, she realized, she was crying because she'd left everyone behind, and she'd never again get the chance to hug her children the way she was hugging Fred now.

"It's okay, Mum, really." Fred patted Molly on the shoulder a bit awkwardly. "You know, now, that you'll see everyone again eventually, and we'll be reunited here."

Molly gave a weak smile. "Really?"

Fred smiled at Molly. "We never really left, after all."

* * *

**8 Years Later**

Arthur sat up, blinking. He must have left the curtains open, the room was so bright.

His head felt fuzzy. His bed didn't seem like his regular bed, maybe he'd have to get a new mattress.

"Arthur?" A voice rang out.

It couldn't be. He hadn't heard that voice in almost a decade… Hearing it, it filled him with terrible sadness, longing, but also happiness and love…. it sounded like…

_Molly. _

"Arthur!" Molly sprinted towards him and hugged him tightly.

"Molly? How-," Arthur was speechless.

"It's okay, Arthur. We're finally reunited," Molly held the love of her life in her arms, and he held her back.

Their love had truly transcended life and death.

And now they were together again.

* * *

**Please review! We'd like to hear your opinions on the Molly chapters as a whole and what you all thought of the writing. **

**The final chapter is not next Saturday, but the one after (Saturday January 16). Mark your calendars for the last chapter of The Life We've Dreamed of!**


	50. An Old Friend

**Well, guys, here it is.**

**The final chapter. **

**We hope you all like it.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to J.K Rowling. We own nothing but the plotlines.  
**

* * *

**An Old Friend**

Harry Potter.

The Boy Who Lived.

Soon to be The Man Who Died.

At 96 years old, Harry felt that he could truly say that he had lived his life to its fullest potential. He was happy. The only real regret he had about his life was not eating more treacle tart.

Seriously, though. He had been thrust into fame at a young age, but he felt that he had handled it fairly well. He had been alone for the first ten years of his life, but then he had found a family- in Hogwarts, in the Weasleys, in Hermione, and in the Wizarding World. He had found a place where he _belonged_. He still didn't understand the Dursley's actions, but at least he and Dudley were on speaking terms now- or had been, until Dudley had passed away at the age of 82.

He had married a woman who he loved, he had created children, and now he even had grandkids and great-grandkids.

And as he sat on the porch in his comfortable armchair, watching the beautiful oranges of the sunset blend with yellows and the deep, soulful reds, he was grateful for what he had.

He supposed it was almost fitting, in a way, that his first and last ten years were to be spent alone.

Arthur had passed away eight years after Molly had died, and Bill, Percy, George, and their wives were gone as well, along with Charlie.

Ron and Hermione's deaths had hit him hard. They had shared everything, been through so much- hell, they'd even saved the world together.

But the death that had hit him the hardest was Ginny's. Ginny had passed away from old age about a decade ago, and she was the last person from his childhood to leave him. Yes, he still had his children and grandchildren, but they would never understand the pain and suffering he had gone through. He loved them, but in a different way; they knew him not as Harry Potter, but as Grampa Harry. They hadn't known him when he was growing up, and Harry was a very different person around them than he was with the people he had known all his life. But don't misunderstand him, here- he loved his family with all his heart, and there was nothing that he wouldn't do for them.

Now the kids were all grown up (and had avoided prison, thankfully).

Teddy and Vic had five children (taking after the very busy Molly), one of whom was the new head of the Auror Department, something Harry bragged about quite a bit. Even Teddy and VIctoire had their own grandchildren now.

James would often come to visit with his wife, Jemma. Their three kids would come as well; Alfie, Leo, and Elle. Leo and Elle were twins, and Harry had known as soon as they were born that they'd be troublemakers just like their grandpas Fred and George. They'd nearly burned the house down during their early nappy years. Alfie, Leo, and Elle had their own families, and Harry loved spending time with his great-grandchildren.

Albus and Alice and their two children, Oliver and Imogen, would often travel the world with Oliver and Imogen's families. All of the traveling caused Albus and Alice to not have as much time with Harry as he would have liked, but whenever they were in town, they would make sure that they spent time with Harry for the majority of their stay.

Lily, on the other hand, had practically moved her entire family to be with Harry when their mum had died. She and Lorcan had come to Godric's Hollow to be able to check on Harry every now and then, which he greatly appreciated. The couple had no children of their own, when they had found out Lily was unable to have children. They had been devastated, as anyone would be, but then Lorcan had the idea of adoption. Lena and Luke were just as much part of the family as anyone else, and even they had their own families who would come to visit Harry often as well.

Harry was so proud of his large family. He and Ginny had fought for them, for this world, for this freedom, for this happiness.

And their efforts had paid off.

And yet, now, as Harry sat in his chair, watching the dazzling sunset, he began to think.

Throughout it all, Harry had endured so much- some would say too much. Perhaps it was not fair, that his life was so marred by the actions of others over which he had no control.

He'd lost so much, and had gone through so many hardships and trials.

He remembered, for everyone who had left him behind.

For everything that he had gone through.

A part of him wanted to remember the sadness, the weaknesses, the sorrows.

Wanted to remember when the Engima had struck and left him wounded and crippled.

Wanted to remember when Neville had lost his grandmother.

Wanted to remember the pain of the war and losing so many friends.

And, most of all, wanted to remember when Molly had gotten cancer, how it had almost torn the family apart.

But…

The rest of him wanted to remember the happiness, the strength, and the joy.

He remembered Ginny helping him heal from the wounds, both inside and out, that he had accumulated throughout his life.

He remembered Neville overcoming his fears and becoming one of the strongest people Harry knew.

He remembered the healing and that the sacrifices everyone had made were not in vain.

And, most of all, he remembered the Weasley-Potter family's strength in face of the ultimate enemy, and in face of their most testing battle- losing Molly.

They had won, together.

And when he thought of his earliest memory, he recalled why they had fought so hard.

His parents had fought to make life worth living.

His family had fought to make life worth living.

_He had fought to make life worth living._

And he had succeeded.

It truly was the life they'd dreamed of.

With that last thought, he took off the invisibility cloak.

And he greeted Death as an old friend.

* * *

**Hey everyone,**

**Well, this is it. The final oneshot, after 50 oneshots and over a year's writing.**

**We just wanted to thank you all for an amazing 50 oneshots. Where has the time gone? It feels like only yesterday when we were writing about little baby Teddy. We are speaking for the both of us when we say that this has really, truly been the best year of our lives, and you have made that possible. Your support really made this fic possible, and for those who stuck with us throughout every chapter, we appreciate you so much. And we just wanted to take the time to thank _each and everyone one of you_ who ever reviewed, followed, or favorited us and/or this story (There's quite a lot, which we're very thankful for). So here we go.**

**Thank you _so so so_ much to:**

**Reviewers:**

**lojosmom - jennyangelamj - potterhead71792 - popusoialexandrina - Lily Rose 02 - MaddieLuvsFangirling - BookLu v - McNerdybird - supernerdyfangirl shadowkat87 - ElectroPhoenix - Rose - Marian - Me - fons19 - WaterWarrior60 - kcaryan04 - sainlysai - elizzabethanddarcy - Annik J0 - Brigade701 - pettybureaucrat - Eeveecat1248 - fanHPTW - ThatOneSpirit - PeridotPi - Twan - maddy5032 - LUKELORE glazedwater - pixelfish - captain green falsh - morganna12 - Reviewer - iCanGrammar ConfidentialAuthor - Lt. Basil - HP-Fan-4Ever - PotterWeasley2011 - Guest72 - Najiya AllisonReader - ImaginationInspire - Shreyan Chanda - nij2401 - Williukea - The Jolly Jester Potterhead - dleeldy60 - GrandmaBeth - singallday - Harry Potter - ThatGirlWithMutation ZevieANDHinnyFan - rachelelsie - Katie - Nikki - brookeyhoneybee - Kayla Mosin**

**_And every single one of our guests_**

**Followers/Favoriters:**

**Alishear - AllisonReader - Always Those Damn Fandoms - Amiam - Anarane Sindanarie - Aquila Lestrange - BecauseI'mageek - BellaAriana - BookNinja02 - Brigade701 - CelineD23 - Crazyfangirll20 - Dalvarez89 - Dauntlessindivergence - ElectroPhoenix - Emzi001 - Ethan Grose - .what. - GGuy12345 - GoldenFire Griffin - GrandmaBeth - HPotter25 - HermyLuna2 HolmesPotter - Hufflepuffnerd - Imightjustwishiwasaweasley - IreneElla - It'sMeGert - IvyVinesandWanderLust - Jimmythebass - JinxHeart22997 - Kharisma636 - KnightOfTheWoefulCountenance - Kpotter0907 - L Gull - LUKELORE - LitEnthused - Lizzzzy86 MH96 - MalfoyTwin - Margo6 - Miette in the Rain - Mikki88 - Naara-no-temari - NahSevciuc Neville Maughan - NicLuvin - NightshadeAndNargles - PeridotPi - Pottera127 - Primrose-369 PrincessMoi - Rainbow Lava Ninjas - Revkah2010 - Romantic Dreamer13 - Sharkeila**

**Shiranai Atsune - SimplyG - ThatWeirdScotsGirl - TheCuteVamp - TheEvilZebra - The Jolly Jester ThePurpleWriter25 - TheWhiteWolf02 - Toadetterocks15 - Twan - WaterWarrior60**

**Wife of the Great Fool - YerAWizard - aaz001nyc - abishop47 - aineobrien - casketttalways cosmoGirl666 - crazy potterhead - cskkdm - deannamarie24 - dinahraz - disneynut98 draytonusthesmall - elizzabethanddarcy - emsmom01 - fanHPTW - fandomnerd25**

**fluteprincess95 - garrettthebob - gleeficss - hilli98215 - hmguipre - katr96 - khiezzia - likethewordish live several lives - magicslifer - michelle. - mimamamemimaa - mljbar - musicfan1346 musicgirlc117 - narniadreamer1 - nellekeduf - ninismsafitri - patronusquill - pattersonfan pettybureaucrat - pixelfish - princessbatbird - 1 - raka.b13 - rilienelson03 rosekatxo - roses-have-their-thorns - rupertslover09 - sachaelle - sainlyinsain - saints stories savannahsmommy - shadowkat87 - vrb18 - x1t2a3n - 278572709 - Adara rocks - Adriana - ikaelson Anarane Sindanarie - Andromeda of cabin 3 - Annelies Shofia - BellaMarieSwanCullen97 Blue Torpedo - Book-of-Spells - BookLuv - ChpNinjaChick - Codee21 - ConfidentialAuthor CorrieLover - CrystalShardz64 - - Daughter Of Sun and Moon - Dragonsrule18 FallingStar95 - HPSheoJoshiferClintasha - HPotter25 - Hannah536 - Harry Potter is the best movie HyperxKitty - I'm-Too-Insane - IAmEmber - ImaginationInspire - Indra Senin - It'sMeGert -**

**JCBLGW Jeanine Lovegood-Clearwater - Jenny Pfundner - Jennyangelamj - Jilly98 - Jily71102 JinxHeart22997 - Lillian L.T - LiteratureSoccerEnthusiast - LovelySailor - Lt. Basil - LuaM Luckygirl1291 - MH96 - MaddieLuvsFangirling - Master-Juan-X - Max-Gemini-431 - McNerdybird NewtPhoenix - PJOlover4life - PatDarcy - PercabethHinny - Phantom Darkrai - PotterWeasley2011 - Ranger921 - RockyGirl1994 - Savanah498 - Shreyan Chanda - Skylight26 StarlightBooks609 **

** Sunshine72 - Sweetcrazy14 - ThatGirlWithMutation - The Lost Dauntless ThePurpleWriter25 - WaterWarrior60 - Williukea - Zaini - ZevieANDHinnyFan - agustinacoronel alaskanwoman25 - alwaysanonymous123 - aniaznguy - attlantica - autumnkitten25 - bookdragon17 .33 - captain green flash - catvontrap - cloudfone4029 - - disneynut98 dreamwriter32 - fangirl 9010 - fons19 - gagalika - glazedwater - 02 - jim139 junefly - justonemorebook - kaylapeoples - kcaryan04 - king weerie - kittycat114 - lojosmom**

**lulu911 - - mainframe98 - - miya516 - moon of starless night . - ncerise - nickyta17 - nij2401 - - pippamarven popusoialexandrina - potterdemidivergtrib - potterhead71792 - quidditchqueen277 - rachelelsie raka.b13 - rosaleevic - rosekatxo - sehrayuna - singallday - slindeman - smaitri04 - snarrygirlforever sofi1999 - supernerdyfangirl - trachie17 - truebooknerd - vicgordan22 - xMatildaaaax - Puppies Sparkles and Sewing**

**We honestly cannot believe how far this fic has come. Originally, we had planned it to just be fifteen oneshots of the Weasley babies' funny antics, but now, as you can see, we've changed and added to the fic to expand it. We really feel like we've learned a lot about writing throughout this fic, and we cannot express enough how much it meant to us to have dedicated readers who stuck with us throughout the entire story.**

**Hitting that "Complete" button has made us both a little sad that it's over, but also proud of what we've accomplished.**

**To everyone who asked for us to continue the fic, we're flattered, really, but, to be honest, we feel that the ending, along with the Molly chapters, is the most trying thing the Weasleys have gone through. Their evolution throughout this fic has lead up to this and it was the best ending we feel we could have given.**

**But not to fear, we will be reuniting for another fic! (We're not sure when it will be or what it's going to be about- we were thinking about a Marauders fic with a twist, but you'll have to wait and see!)**

**So, again, thank you all _so so_ much!**

**We really hope you enjoyed going on this ride with us- we sure did.**

**See you all soon,**

**Musicnotesinstruments12**


End file.
